OJK, IDX Mull Plan for Separate Stock Index for SMEs
Jakarta. Indonesia's financial services regulator and local stock exchange will be teaming up to establish a niche stock market for small and medium enterprises in the country, according to Financial Services Authority (OJK) chief Muliaman Hadad.
"We want small and medium enterprises to utilize the capital market with looser requirements," Muliaman told reporters in Jakarta on Monday.
"SMEs has proven to be resilient throughout the financial crises and create jobs. [This plan] could stimulate the local economy... We want to push financing firms, banks, the capital market and insurers to focus on SMEs," he added.
There are roughly 56.5 million SMEs in Southeast Asia's largest economy, booking monthly sales of between Rp 100 million ($7500) and Rp 4 billion, according to data from the Cooperative and SME Ministry.
Muliaman said he has reached out to Tito Sulistio, the newly-appointed president director of the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), about the plan to develop a second board specialized for SMEs.
A second board, which would be an alternative to the main stock index, is generally established for smaller companies that have not yet built up an earning or sales record needed for a main board listing.
Indonesia's main stock index, the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI), currently has 516 listed companies with a market capitalization of nearly Rp 5,000 trillion on Monday.
Muliaman also said OJK was mulling plans to "establish a range of supporting infrastructure, such as a rating agency and a SME research facility in various areas across the country."
Separately, Tito — who was appointed to lead the local stock exchange last week — has revealed plans to launch a second board in hopes of attracting more SMEs, including burgeoning local start-up firms and venture capitals, to raise funds from the capital market.
The new IDX president director cited the United States' Nasdaq stock market as an example, which is one of the most-followed stock indices with over 3,500 listed companies and more than $9.1 trillion in total market value.
Google and Facebook, two of the world's biggest tech giants, are among the information technology companies that are listed on the Nasdaq composite index.
Indonesia used to have the Surabaya Stock Exchange as a second board, before it was merged with the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) in 2007, and its name changed to the Indonesia Stock Exchange.
Suara Pembaruan
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