State publishing firm told to get its act together

State publishing firm told to get its act together

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman
Djojonegoro ordered state-owned Balai Pustaka to strive to regain
its past glitter as the nation's leading publishing and printing
company.

Wardiman revamped the management of Balai Pustaka yesterday,
appointing five new directors, including its president, and
immediately called on them to improve efficiency.

He said one of the chief tasks of the rejuvenated board is to
regain Balai Pustaka's lost markets.

"The success of a company is not judged by its age, but by its
management," he said at the induction ceremony at his office.

The popularity of Balai Pustaka's, which was once a trend
setter in Indonesia, has diminished over the years with the
onslaught of fierce competition from larger, more commercial
oriented private publishers.

The 77-year old state enterprise, which is overseen by
Wardiman's office, was founded in 1917 as a Dutch publishing firm
for Indonesian literature. It printed books in Javanese,
Sundanese, Melayu and Madura dialects.

The company's slide began after Indonesia gained independence
in 1945. The company was beset by inefficiency and its income
fell significantly. It only managed to survive thanks to its
monopoly in publishing government school textbooks.

Inefficiency

Wardiman acknowledged that the inefficiency was mainly caused
by the government's lack of funds. "Our budget for Balai Pustaka
is now mainly for publishing school textbooks. We have to admit
that private publishers have taken the lead in the commercial
book market."

The new management board must be able to work within the
allocated budget and compete with private publishers, he said.

"The new directors should be more dynamic," he said, stressing
that the immediate target is to turn the publishing company into
"a financially healthy state firm whose programs run as planned."

The newly inaugurated officials were Wahyudi Ruwiyanto as
president, replacing Zakaria Idris; Nafron Hasjim as production
director replacing Parman Munaf; Saparudin as marketing director
replacing Soewardi Diposoedarmo and Soekandar Wasitadipoera as
administration and financial director replacing Adwityani S.
Subagio.

Immediately after the induction as Balai Pustaka president,
Wahyudi disclosed that the publishing company is taking on an
ambitious task -- to encourage Indonesians to enjoy reading.

"Although Balai Pustaka has its financial limitations as a
state company, it will continue to attach top priority to its
cultural and social missions," he told reporters.

This task won't be easy because most Indonesians are not
"achievement-oriented in their daily life."

"To strive to achieve, a society must enjoy learning, which
should be preceded by one which enjoys reading," he said.

Wahyudi, who was formerly head of the ministry's center for
staff education and training, said reading materials should be
attractive to get people interested in reading.

"Through an evaluation of our strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats, we hope to identify the factors which
can enable Balai Pustaka to create new opportunities ... we will
think of new ways to make reading more popular," he said,
acknowledging that cooperation with the private sector would
continue. (pwn)