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)