President Prabowo meets with Indonesia’s top tycoons, asks them to help create jobs

[JAKARTA] Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto met with five of the nation’s leading businessmen late on Tuesday (Feb 10), asking them to work together with the government to create jobs in South-east Asia’s biggest economy, according to a Wednesday statement.

The meeting followed a week of turmoil on the Jakarta stock exchange after index provider MSCI raised concerns about transparency and share ownership, causing a frantic sell-off that wiped away around US$120 billion in market value.

The five were Prajogo Pangestu, founder of petrochemical comglomerate Barito Pacific Group, Anthoni Salim of the Salim Group, one of the world’s largest producers of instant noodles, Franky Widjaja of paper and agribusiness giant Sinar Mas, Garibaldi Thohir of miner PT Alamtri Resources Indonesia and Sugianto Kusuma, founder of property firm Agung Sedayu Group.

The meeting lasted for about four hours in Prabowo’s residence in Hambalang, Bogor.

Prabowo emphasised the importance of the spirit of “Indonesia Incorporated” to encourage close collaboration between all sectors in support of the economy.

According to the statement, the businessmen expressed their backing for various government programmes, including free meals for students, the development of schools as well as food and energy security. REUTERS