Statistics office to hold economic census soon

Statistics office to hold economic census soon

JAKARTA (JP): The Central Bureau of Statistics will hold an
economic census and set up a business information center in the
near future, an official said yesterday.

"The government has allocated ample funding for the census,
which will focus on all economic activities outside the
agriculture sector," the statistics bureau's chief, Soegito, told
reporters after a meeting with President Soeharto at the Merdeka
Palace.

Soegito, who was accompanied in the meeting by Minister/State
Secretary Moerdiono, said that the census would be conducted
early in the 1995-1996 fiscal year, which starts in April.

Soegito did not disclose the amount of funding provided for
the census.

He said the findings of the census would become the main
references for government policy-making for the next decade,
encompassing two five-year development plan periods.

"That is why the President wants the bureau to maintain its
independence. He said he will no longer tolerate a boot-licking
mentality," he said.

He added that the government also intended to use the findings
of the census as the basis of a business information center.

"In the past week the bureau has already held a number of
meetings with Coordinating Minister for Industry and Trade
Hartarto about the planned business information center," Soegito
said.

The bureau will formulate its findings with a view to making
the information more easily digestible for the private sector, he
said.

"We will make our findings more accessible. We will also write
executive summaries, basic descriptions of trends and we will
provide our findings on computer disk," Soegito said.

He added that the bureau's reports will be sold to the private
sector for about Rp 5,000 (about US$2) each, while government
agencies and the press will be able to get them for free. (hdj)