President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has given a period of one to two years for state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to make fundamental changes to increase their competitiveness.
According to Jokowi, the clustering forms into one great power, as it builds networking with partnerships abroad.
“Through partnering with overseas companies who have networks, the (SOEs’) link to all countries can become a huge power,” the president remarked.
Through clustering, SOE companies have shown above-standard or even excellent work performance that has contributed significantly to the state budget.
Currently, there are 12 sectors that 41 SOEs engage in: energy, oil, and gas; mineral and coal; insurance and pension funds services; plantations and forestry; and telecommunications and media.
Additional industries include the food and fertilizer industry, tourism and supporting services, health industry, manufacturing industry, infrastructure, logistics, and financial services.
On February 18, 2022, SOEs Minister Erick Thohir announced that he would again downsize the number of state-owned enterprises from 41 to 37 in the next two years.
In addition, he expressed his hope that the next SOEs Minister can complete the reducing program to only 30 state-owned enterprises. With a roadmap for a ten-year period, he has targeted to make the scope of state firms more manageable.
So far, the ministry has encouraged and carried out the SOEs transformation through reducing companies that are considered too large in number, and focusing on inefficient business sectors.
-NIAGATIMES
