REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SAMARINDA -- The Indonesian government aims to lower the country's poverty rate by 4 percent in five years' time, Social Service Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa said.

"The Social Service Ministry itself will contribute to reducing the poverty rate by 0.2 percent per year in five years' time," she noted in a press statement released here on Tuesday.

One of the ministry's programs to empower the poor is introducing joint business groups, both in urban and rural areas, she pointed out.

According to the minister, the joint businesses in urban areas will include culinary, laundry, and small and medium businesses offering a variety of dried and light foods.

She expressed hope that the small and medium businesses will serve as venues to hold consultations, pack products, design products and packages, and develop marketing strategies.

Moreover, the Social Service Ministry will soon coordinate in social assistance with 17 ministries and agencies, Parawansa stated, adding that the coordination will become valuable inputs for other ministries.

"The numerous inputs are important, for instance, for the Industry Ministry and the Trade Ministry to promote the standard of living of people, as part of efforts to lower the poverty rate by 4 percent in five years' time," she explained.

Overall, social assistance set in the 2015 state budget amounts to Rp85 trillion, including Rp5 trillion allocated to the Social Service Ministry, she affirmed.

Parawansa informed that all types of social assistance is made available at the 17 ministries and agencies, including the ministries of religious affairs, agriculture, and education.

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