0 New Board of Directors Faces ‘Challenging’ Year

A new board of directors and personnel of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has been announced by its chairman, Suryo Bambang Sulisto. Suryo said that a change in the structure was a necessary step taken to prepare the chamber known as Kadin as it faces more difficult financial challenges this year. “We’re expanding the organization to 35 departments from the current 20 departments. This cabinet will be called the Hard Working Cabinet,” Suryo said during a panel discussion on Friday. 

Suryo said that the logic behind the new organization is to put the right people behind their respective area of expertise. “The whole idea is to have the captains of industries join with Kadin so that they can speak with authority. They are the ones who know the problems and can provide input to the government,” he added. “The real player would know better, that’s the whole idea,” he added. The business lobby group will put extra attention to new sectors such as a traditional-cultural industry, and will help empower and develop remote areas. 

The new cabinet also includes former Kadin chief and current Industry Minister M.S. Hidayat. Rachmat Gobel will head the infrastructure department while Benny Soetrisno will head the labor department. Chris Kanter will lead the trade and international relations department, Natsir Mansyur will be the head of development of remote areas and logistics and Erwin Aksa will be the new head of small and micro businesses. 

The decision to reshuffle the organization came after long discussions and many considerations in order to increase the organization’s performance in representing Indonesia’s business world and to further tighten the cooperation between Kadin, the Indonesian government and other institutions. Suryo said that although the previous composition has had many achievements the need to rearrange the board was becoming more urgent. 

“With professional figures like Wishnu Wardhana and Trihatma [Haliman] on board, I believe we can become stronger. Obstacles in the year of 2013 will be far more challenging and we wish to overcome those obstacles more efficiently and professionally,” Suryo said. Hidayat, who also attended the discussion, said that the main problem facing the nation is the hasty economic growth. “It creates problems such as wage adjustments and legal uncertainties,” he said. The panel discussion was held by Kadin to gather entrepreneurs from across Indonesia to examine financial problems and predictions for this year.

source : the jakarta globe