The government promised on Thursday to put more focus on the development of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the country, given their contribution to domestic economic growth.
As part of a worldwide campaign sponsored by the United Nations for 2005 to be the International Year of Micro Credit, the government said it was determined to promote SMEs by encouraging both financial and non- financial institutions to provide more accessible lending.
"We plan to carry out many activities in the campaign, with discussion groups and even a competition. But the main focus is to encourage both banks and other financial institutions to disburse more funds to SMEs considering the relatively small proportion (currently) allocated to them," Dipo Alam, a deputy at the Office of Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs and the chairman of the Indonesian Micro Credit Year Committee, said.
