By Eko B. Supriyanto, Chief Editor of Infobank Media Group
PRESIDENT Prabowo Subianto officially launched the Daya Anagata Nusantara (Danantara) Investment Management Agency (BPI) on February 24, 2025, along with the signing of Law No. 1 of 2025 on State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) by Prabowo. Surprisingly, the Chairman of Danantara who had previously been appointed on October 20, 2024 was replaced by Rosan Roeslani who is also the Minister of Investment and Downstream/Head of BKPM.
The day after the inauguration of Danantara, the capital market crashed. Big cap stock prices collapsed. That could be because investors were not convinced of the fiscal capacity – according to Nomura Asia Insights in its report titled “Indonesia: Fiscal Risk Monitor”, the 2025 state budget deficit is expected to swell by 0.9 percent from this year’s government deficit target of 2.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). In line with that, Morgan Stanley cut Indonesia’s stock rating to underweight.
The birth of Danantara is expected to be an engine of economic growth of 8 percent. Danantara is a superholding like the successful Temasek. Danantara is authorized to manage the assets and investments of state-owned companies. The hope is that the government can avoid conflicts of interest. This is because there is a separation of the regulatory and operational functions of SOEs.
In short, the management of SOE assets, which has also been the responsibility of the government under the Ministry of SOEs, can be more business-oriented and independent of political intervention. However, this is still a serious question, as Danantara falls under the umbrella of the SOE Law 2025. Danantara and the Ministry of SOEs are still in the same bed.
That is why there are still doubts about Danantara. If you read the SOE Law 2025, there are many things that need to be reorganized, especially regarding governance. For example, the issue of concurrent positions is not regulated in the SOE Law 2025. The chairman of the executive body/chief executive officer (CEO) is held by Rosan Roeslani, who is also the Minister of Investment and Downstream/Head of BPKM – who is aligned with Erick Thohir, who is also the Minister of SOEs.
Meanwhile, Dony Oskaria, who serves as the operational holding/chief operating officer (COO), is the Deputy Minister of SOEs. How can the head of an agency who is a minister be supervised by a minister? This is what observers consider to be congo-kongko supervision, let alone friends in line.
This is where governance needs to be addressed. The Chairman of Danantara must at least focus. He cannot do the job “on the side”; on the one hand, he must carry out his work as a minister, on the other hand, he must manage Danantara, which holds Rp14,610 trillion in assets. So it is not surprising that investors will discount and doubt Danantara’s credibility. Moreover, don’t forget, Danantara’s assets also contain liabilities (debts), which amount to Rp6,975 trillion. For example, for large assets such as state-owned banks, most of them consist of third-party funds (DPK).
Another thing that also needs to be highlighted is the legal status of share ownership. It states: (1) all shares of the operational holding are owned by the state and the agency, (2) the state of the Republic of Indonesia owns 1 percent of Red and White Series A Dwi Warna shares with Privileges through the Ministry of SOEs, (3) the agency as referred to (Danantara) owns 99 percent of series B shares in the operational holding.
On the one hand, Danantara, which owns 99 percent of the shares, does not have the right to nominate directors, because the authority will rest with the Ministry of SOEs. This also means that the Ministry of SOEs is still powerful; determining directors and commissioners, and very strong. Observers say it removes the head but holds the tail. This is what needs to be addressed, so that Danantara, which has noble ideals, does not remain stuck in place because of these governance issues.
The weaknesses of the SOE Law 2025 regarding business judgment where it is no longer a state loss for SOEs should also make these SOEs more agile, or do not let SOE managers hide behind business judgment articles. If you look at the cases, there is indeed a lot of politicization and criminalization of policies. But, there are also those who deliberately steal. Well, those who steal are like the case of “oplosan” oil imports involving the directors of Pertamina’s subsidiaries and the son of the oil king, Reza Chalid.
If Danantara wants to succeed like Temasek, this governance issue needs to be addressed. Clean up! Otherwise, Danantara’s lofty ideals of being an 8 percent economic growth engine will continue to be discounted by investors. Be careful, because Rp300 trillion of state budget money, as Prabowo said, will be poured into farming. There are opportunities for profit, but there is also the potential for loss. That is why risk management and governance are the “guardians of heaven” for Danantara’s sustainability.
So the management must also be world-class with first-class integrity with qualified seeds, weight and bebet with a top-notch track record.
Honestly, public confidence in Danantara has been discounted, in addition to governance that needs to be improved. Also, the political rumblings that were difficult to avoid in the formation of Danantara.
For this reason, Danantara’s success and failure lies in improving governance so that public trust is high. It must be recognized that public trust is urgent because we often hear “omon-omon” which is not only great, but just a pastime for image purposes.
Let’s not let the market “punish” Danantara any longer. (*)
Questioning Danantara’s Governance, Great Power Still in the Hands of the Ministry of SOEs
By Eko B. Supriyanto, Chief Editor of Infobank Media Group
PRESIDENT Prabowo Subianto officially launched the Daya Anagata Nusantara (Danantara) Investment Management Agency (BPI) on February 24, 2025, along with the signing of Law No. 1 of 2025 on State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) by Prabowo. Surprisingly, the Chairman of Danantara who had previously been appointed on October 20, 2024 was replaced by Rosan Roeslani who is also the Minister of Investment and Downstream/Head of BKPM.
The day after the inauguration of Danantara, the capital market crashed. Big cap stock prices collapsed. That could be because investors were not convinced of the fiscal capacity – according to Nomura Asia Insights in its report titled “Indonesia: Fiscal Risk Monitor”, the 2025 state budget deficit is expected to swell by 0.9 percent from this year’s government deficit target of 2.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). In line with that, Morgan Stanley cut Indonesia’s stock rating to underweight.
The birth of Danantara is expected to be an engine of economic growth of 8 percent. Danantara is a superholding like the successful Temasek. Danantara is authorized to manage the assets and investments of state-owned companies. The hope is that the government can avoid conflicts of interest. This is because there is a separation of the regulatory and operational functions of SOEs.
In short, the management of SOE assets, which has also been the responsibility of the government under the Ministry of SOEs, can be more business-oriented and independent of political intervention. However, this is still a serious question, as Danantara falls under the umbrella of the SOE Law 2025. Danantara and the Ministry of SOEs are still in the same bed.
That is why there are still doubts about Danantara. If you read the SOE Law 2025, there are many things that need to be reorganized, especially regarding governance. For example, the issue of concurrent positions is not regulated in the SOE Law 2025. The chairman of the executive body/chief executive officer (CEO) is held by Rosan Roeslani, who is also the Minister of Investment and Downstream/Head of BPKM – who is aligned with Erick Thohir, who is also the Minister of SOEs.
Meanwhile, Dony Oskaria, who serves as the operational holding/chief operating officer (COO), is the Deputy Minister of SOEs. How can the head of an agency who is a minister be supervised by a minister? This is what observers consider to be congo-kongko supervision, let alone friends in line.
This is where governance needs to be addressed. The Chairman of Danantara must at least focus. He cannot do the job “on the side”; on the one hand, he must carry out his work as a minister, on the other hand, he must manage Danantara, which holds Rp14,610 trillion in assets. So it is not surprising that investors will discount and doubt Danantara’s credibility. Moreover, don’t forget, Danantara’s assets also contain liabilities (debts), which amount to Rp6,975 trillion. For example, for large assets such as state-owned banks, most of them consist of third-party funds (DPK).
Another thing that also needs to be highlighted is the legal status of share ownership. It states: (1) all shares of the operational holding are owned by the state and the agency, (2) the state of the Republic of Indonesia owns 1 percent of Red and White Series A Dwi Warna shares with Privileges through the Ministry of SOEs, (3) the agency as referred to (Danantara) owns 99 percent of series B shares in the operational holding.
On the one hand, Danantara, which owns 99 percent of the shares, does not have the right to nominate directors, because the authority will rest with the Ministry of SOEs. This also means that the Ministry of SOEs is still powerful; determining directors and commissioners, and very strong. Observers say it removes the head but holds the tail. This is what needs to be addressed, so that Danantara, which has noble ideals, does not remain stuck in place because of these governance issues.
The weaknesses of the SOE Law 2025 regarding business judgment where it is no longer a state loss for SOEs should also make these SOEs more agile, or do not let SOE managers hide behind business judgment articles. If you look at the cases, there is indeed a lot of politicization and criminalization of policies. But, there are also those who deliberately steal. Well, those who steal are like the case of “oplosan” oil imports involving the directors of Pertamina’s subsidiaries and the son of the oil king, Reza Chalid.
If Danantara wants to succeed like Temasek, this governance issue needs to be addressed. Clean up! Otherwise, Danantara’s lofty ideals of being an 8 percent economic growth engine will continue to be discounted by investors. Be careful, because Rp300 trillion of state budget money, as Prabowo said, will be poured into farming. There are opportunities for profit, but there is also the potential for loss. That is why risk management and governance are the “guardians of heaven” for Danantara’s sustainability.
So the management must also be world-class with first-class integrity with qualified seeds, weight and bebet with a top-notch track record.
Honestly, public confidence in Danantara has been discounted, in addition to governance that needs to be improved. Also, the political rumblings that were difficult to avoid in the formation of Danantara.
For this reason, Danantara’s success and failure lies in improving governance so that public trust is high. It must be recognized that public trust is urgent because we often hear “omon-omon” which is not only great, but just a pastime for image purposes.
Let’s not let the market “punish” Danantara any longer. (*)
