BI Launches SME Support
Programs
Coinciding
with its 54th anniversary, Bank Indonesia
officially launched four programs on July 2 focusing
on the strengthening of micro-, and small and medium
enterprises (SMEs) throughout the country to help
accelerate the growth of the real sector.
The programs cover the establishment of a task force
to facilitate the acceleration of regional
economies, a pilot project to cluster SMEs based on
commodity and geographical settings, an on-line
service providing business data and information, and
a visitor center at BI’s headquarters.
BI
governor Burhanuddin Abdullah described the programs
as part of BI’s commitment to improving the real
sector in the regions, especially the role of SMEs.
The task force will be charged with finding
solutions to the problems hampering the
strengthening of the real sector in various regions.
Its membership will consist of representatives from
the BI, provincial leaderships, commercial banks,
private companies, and academic institutions, and it
is expected to function as a mediator and guarantor
for SMEs in securing loans from banks.
The task force has already established pilot
projects in eight regions, namely Medan
(revitalization of oil-palm and rubber plantations),
Bandung (vanilla, corn, and rice cultivation),
Manado (corn cultivation), Cirebon (cassava
cultivation), Pontianak (orange groves), Jambi (palm
and rubber plantations), Kupang (seaweed farming),
and Purwokerto (goat raising).
As
for the pilot projects to cluster SMEs based on
commodity and geographical settings, Burhanuddin
said that these were aimed at improving SME
bargaining positions.
‘SME cluster have been established in six provinces:
Banten for the promotion of emping mlinjo (gnetum-nut
chips), West Java for paprika, West Nusa Tenggara
for seaweed, Central Java for rattan furniture, East
Java for shoes, and North Sumatra for cassava.”
The on-line service,
meanwhile, would provide up-to-the-minute
information on business in Indonesia via the BI
website at
www.bi.go.id.
The information service, which is to provide both
micro-and macro-information, was expected to help
improve the bank’s intermediation role in channeling
loans to SMEs.
Lack of capital is one of the many problems facing
SMEs as they attempt to grow their businesses, while
the SMEs are the economic mainstays in most of the
country’s provinces.
