T

he Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX) and the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) will jointly organize coaching clinics nationwide as part of efforts to encourage more companies to float shares on the bourse.

IDX president director Tito Sulistio said on Wednesday that the clinics and incubation programs would start in April.

'€œWe, together with underwriters, will hold the clinics to provide an understanding of the bourse and of IPO [initial public offering] procedure to Kadin'€™s members,'€ he told reporters after signing the agreement at the IDX office in South Jakarta.

Tito said the IPO process was simple and inexpensive, and something he hoped to convince Kadin'€™s members to do through the clinics, which would be free of charge.

Companies should look at the bourse as a long-term financing facility for their businesses, regardless of their location or size, he said.

Kadin chairman Rosan P. Roeslani confirmed Tito'€™s statement, saying his office was disseminating information to local Kadin branches and encouraging more of their members to enter the IDX.

Having stocks listed was a way of improving the transparency and accountability of management, he added.

'€œThere will be one company listing their shares each month starting from July,'€ he said, adding that as many as 12 firms were likely to go public this year and next year.

Kadin'€™s deputy chairman for financial and equity markets Emirsyah Satar said the 12 companies came from several regions, including Bali and Central Java, and from sectors ranging from tourism to manufacturing.

'€œWe want our members to think big, as a company can grow bigger by entering the stock market,'€ he said, adding that the chamber had around 15,000 members so far.

The IDX has been encouraging private companies and state-owned enterprises to enter the bourse as a part of its efforts to become the largest equity market in Southeast Asia by 2020.

Last year, the bourse failed to achieve its growth target amid the gloomy economy, with only 21 of a targeted 22 companies listing their shares. Initially, the IDX had targeted 32 companies to get listed on the bourse in 2015.

This year, with the expected brighter economic situation and the possibility of some state-owned enterprises'€™ subsidiaries going public, the IDX has targeted 35 IPOs.

Meanwhile, chairman of Kadin'€™s Bali chapter, AA Ngurah Alit Wiraputra, lauded the joint program, and the fact that local companies would no longer need to go to Jakarta to find out about IPO procedure.

Alit said as many as nine Bali-based companies, doing business in property, retail, handicrafts and food and beverages, were currently ready for their IPOs.

In addition to the coaching clinics, the IDX and Kadin will also hold incubation programs in several regions, starting in Jakarta, then in Bali. The programs will be dedicated to startups, which are mostly developed by young people, Emirsyah said.

He stated that Lippo Group, Djarum Group and broadcasting company SCTV had agreed to fund the program.

'€œThese young people create jobs and add value so Kadin and the IDX would like to support them,'€ he said.