40 Indonesian SMEs meet German counterparts

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Some 40 Indonesian small-and medium-scale entrepreneurs (SMEs) met with 26 German counterparts in a forum organized by the Agency for Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) here Friday, an official said.

"The meeting is an activity under the Small Project Facility (SPF) or a grant project from the European Union to help Indonesian SMEs apply technology in their businesses," the head of BPPT`s Business Technology Center (BTC), Bambang S Pujantiyo, said on the sidelines of the gathering which was held at the BPPT building.

The meeting was aimed at facilitating the transfer of technology from European countries to Indonesia, he said adding that the gathering was promoted by the Indonesian Network for Technology-Industry Matching (InTIM).

Bambang said the partnership between the Indonesian and German entrepreneurs will be materialized in the form of technology licenses, intellectual property rights, joint production, assembling, marketing and capitalization.

Germany will help modernize Indonesian businessmen`s machineries that are already worn out, he said.

The business gathering discussed issues in five areas, namely marine resources, aquaculture, energy, electronics and health as well as information technology, manufacturing and agro-industry.

Meanwhile, State Minister for Cooperatives and SME expert staff member for Technology Usage I Wayan Dipta said the business gathering will hopefully increase the number of technology and knowledge-based Indonesian entrepreneurs.

Quoting a study conducted by the Pacific Economic Corporation Council in 2002, I Wayan said Indonesia should raise the number of its technology- and knowledge-based entrepreneurs to 20 million until 2020 if it wants to have a competitive edge.

"Data of the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) in 2005 showed that Indonesia only had 3 million technology- and knowledge-based entrepreneurs while the accepted norm was that a country should have one technology- and knowledge-based entrepreneur in every 20 people," he said.

"If in 2005 Indonesia had a population of about 220 million, it should already have 11 million technology- and knowledge-based entrepreneurs by now," he said.

I Wayan also said the business gathering would not abandon Indonesian technology.