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Wednesday, 23 Oct 2019 19:16 WIB

Erick Thohir: BUMN Must Expand Globally

Erick Thohir is appointed as Minister of State-Owned Company (BUMN).
Red: Elba Damhuri

Ex Minister State-Owned Company Rini Soemarno gave a BUMN's annual report book to Erick Thohir, Rini's successor.

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA --  Minister of State-Owned Companies (BUMN/SOC)

Erick Thohir is targeting during his leadership in the BUMN ministry, SOEs expected to
improve performance on the local to global level. He mentioned healthy ecosystems in
the scope of BUMN, Regional-Owned Enterprises (BUMD), as well as Private-Owned
Companies (BUMS), can collaborate to achieve these targets.

Moreover, said Erick, President Joko Widodo has a vision to make Indonesia to be a
developed country in the 2045. "We hope for a healthy ecosystem so we can collaborate.
We must not only be good at home, we must (become) global players, "said Erick, at the
Ministry of SOEs, Jakarta, Wednesday (10/23).

The plan is that the entire BUMN sector will be further harmonized. It's just that, his side
has not been able to disclose in detail about which sectors need to be synchronized.

Erick admitted that he still needed enough time to study BUMN thoroughly because he
had come from the private sector.
Regarding his 100-day performance target at BUMN, he has not been able to disclose the
same details in detail. It's just after the inauguration and handover of positions that took
place on Wednesday (10/23), he immediately chaired a meeting with all officials and
directors of SOEs.

"Because there is a meeting tomorrow (limited meeting with the President), I immediately
met. "Give me time to learn, because there is a KPI (key performance indicator) that I
have to study again," said Erick.

The performance of the Ministry of BUMN in the last five years has been under the
spotlight. Especially regarding the company's cash performance and debt of a number of
state-owned companies.

Related to this, Erick considers that not all debt is negative as long as the debt can be used
for productive things.

The danger is, he continued, if the amount of debt swells and then there are actions such
as corruption. He regrets that lately there is an unfavorable image of SOEs even though
he does not want to blame anyone.

To improve that image, he is committed to building strong synergy with measurable

targets. Whether it's in the scope of BUMN, BUMD, to BUMS.

Erick promised to carry out a total evaluation both from performance, management, and
the image of BUMN to be more professional so that it can create a healthier climate.

"I come from a private sector, so I just need to clean up. I regret there is a bad image of
BUMN's lately," he said.

Based on a hearing meeting (RDP) in the House of Representatives (DPR), in the last
December 2018, the 10 SOEs with the largest debt were filled from the banking sector.
The debts included BRI with Rp 1,008 trillion, Mandiri with Rp 997 trillion, BNI with Rp
660 trillion, PT PLN with Rp 542 trillion, PT Pertamina with Rp 522 trillion, BTN with
Rp 249 trillion, Taspen with Rp 222 trillion, PT Waskita Karya with Rp 102 trillion, PT
Telekomunikasi Indonesia Rp 99 trillion, and PT Pupuk Indonesia Rp 76 trillion.
Chairperson of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) Rosan
Roeslani expressed his confidence in BUMN under Erick's leadership. According to him,
Erick is a professional figure and very competent in the business sector.

The inevitability of collaboration between SOEs and the private sector will continue to be
created better in the future. "(Cooperation of SOEs and the private sector) I believe it will
be a better one. We give support, full support for Mr Erick," he said.

In the performance of SOEs in the past five years, according to him, the note that was
highlighted was regarding the infrastructure sector. He considered, access to SOEs that
have limitations and refer to the accountability of good governance more or less has a
difference from the private sector.

For this reason, according to him, the synergy between BUMN and the private sector is
believed to be going hand in hand. Coordination and communication between BUMN and
the private sector are also requested to be further improved

Regarding Erick's plan to bring SOEs to the global arena, Rosan said the banking sector 
is the most ready to hook the global market.  "We have Bank Mandiri, BNI, BTN, BRI. If
it is properly consolidated, we can automatically become a number one regional player,
"he said.