Thorough assessment of state firms urged
Thorough assessment of state firms urged
JAKARTA (JP): Comprehensive assessment of the overall
performances of state-owned companies is prerequisite to entering
the free market era, a senior government official said yesterday.
Marzuki Usman, the chairman of the Educational and Training
Agency of the Ministry of Finance, said here yesterday that the
assessment should be conducted to determine the strengths and
weaknesses of the state-owned firms and the opportunities and
threats they could face.
Speaking at a workshop on the competitiveness of state-owned
companies in global trade, Marzuki said such an assessment is the
essential first step toward mapping out their business
strategies.
In comparison to developed countries, Indonesia does not seem
to be as serious about facing trade globalization, Marzuki, the
former chairman of the Capital Market Supervisory Agency
(Bapepam), said.
"Japan has been far ahead. For example, it has earmarked a
large amount of funds for preparing its small- and medium-scale
companies to face the free market era," he said.
"If we are late, how can we compete with other countries,
moreover with developed countries such as Japan," he told the
panel discussion chaired by Bambang Subianto, the Director
General of Financial Institutions of the Ministry of Finance.
He said that each state-owned company should carry out a
separate strength, weakness, opportunity and threat analysis
forum to enable them to take an effective approach to improving
their competitiveness.
The two-day workshop, officially opened by Director General
for State Enterprises Martiono Hadianto on Thursday, was
participated in by executives of state-owned companies operating
in the financial and manufacturing sectors.
At the same workshop, Hasan Kartadjoemena, the government's
former representative for the General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade (GATT), explained free trade arrangements under the
principles of GATT and the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA).
State-owned companies, which registered total assets of Rp
358 trillion (US$160 billion) as of last year, are often
criticized for their poor performances.
The Commission for Trade and Finance of the House of
Representatives recently questioned their low profitability.
Profits of state-owned companies, which reached a total of Rp
8 trillion in 1994-1995, were low in comparison to their assets,
members of the commission said.
Hasan said yesterday that state-owned companies had no choice
but to make concrete and applicable business plans to enable them
to survive in the free market era.
He said that state-owned companies would have to be
competitive not only overseas but also at home in the next 15
years when most tariff barriers will be totally abolished.
Establishing business alliances with other state-owned firms
or with overseas companies is also important in enabling them to
compete in the free trade era, he said.
Marzuki acknowledged that state-owned companies, which have a
double function as profit-oriented entities and agents of
development, will find it more difficult than private companies
to improve their competitiveness.
He said that their role as agents of development should not
become an excuse for operating unprofessionally. (hen)