At present, Indonesia had 142 state-owned companies and the reduction of the number by half was a measure to make those companies world-class ones, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Hatta Rajasa said here Thursday.
He disclosed the plan to slash the number of state-owned companies after a meeting with SOE Minister Mustafa Abubakar and Deputy Trade Minister Alex Retraubun at the SOE ministry in Jakarta.
Rajasa said the policy of reducing the number of state-owned companies would be implemented as the government wanted them to become spearheads of the national economy. At the meeting, he had listened to reports on the progress and current conditions of the 142 SOEs.
Rajasa said the reduction would be carried out through restructuring, re-grouping and consolidation based on the shareholders` actions involving mergers, holding, divestment or liquidations.
"The essence is that how the government keeps on strengthening the SOEs to achieve world class status, despite some remaining to hold public service functions yet still they need to be strengthened," Minister Rajasa said.
Minister Abubakar admitted that the overall performance of the SOEs had yet to reach optimum level and was marked by lowk competitiveness, especially in this age of fast changing business climate in the ever globalizing and free trade eras.
To date, the majority of the 142 SOEs was of relatively small business scale and had been in the red in for years.
SOE Ministry data shows that up to December 31, 2010 there were 22 big-scale SOEs whose total assets representing to 90.5 percent of the total 142 SOEs, 88.92 their total equities, 85.99 percent of their sales and 89.89 percent their net profits.
The other 119 SOES are of small scale in business size in terms of assets, equities, sales and net profits.
(Uu.KR-VFT/HAJM/A014)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
