Templeton Global, Jardine, SoftBank chiefs set to speak at Danantara’s investor forum in Bali

[SINGAPORE] Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund Danantara is holding its first flagship investor forum in Bali in early December. The two-day event aims to direct capital to emerging economies in Asia, and features some of the world’s top corporate leaders on its list of speakers.

Among those who have confirmed their attendance for the New Asia Forum on Dec 3-4 are Templeton Global Investments chief investment officer Manraj Sekhon, Jardine Matheson CEO Lincoln Pan, and SoftBank Group chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son.

Also expected to attend are Capital A CEO Tony Fernandes, Austria’s former chancellor Sebastian Kurz, and Freeport-McMoRan president and CEO Kathleen Kirk.

Danantara’s CEO and Indonesia’s Minister of Investment and Downstream Industry Rosan Roeslani, as well as the sovereign wealth fund’s chief investment officer Pandu Sjahrir, will be present too.

The New Asia Forum – held under the patronage of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto – is being held with the aim of attracting capital. Danantara earlier set a target of US$30 billion in investment commitments for this inaugural edition, with a focus on strategic projects in Indonesia.

In an interview with The Business Times in Singapore on Tuesday (Nov 3) at the Shangri-La Hotel, Danantara’s managing director for global relations and communications Pahala Mansury said “New Asia” involves South-east Asia, and South and Central Asia.

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Economies in Asia currently contribute about 60 per cent of global growth, he said, adding that the forum aims to connect capital with the region’s emerging economies.

Pahala said Danantara wants to partner both local and overseas investors to bring capital or expertise into the region across various sectors, such as technology and critical minerals.

The forum is part of Danantara’s mandate to grow Indonesia’s economy and help generate commercial returns, he added.

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Pahala said he hoped the event could serve as a platform for governments, sovereign wealth funds, companies and family conglomerates to make deals and identify opportunities in Asia via Indonesia.

“My visit to Singapore is to get people to understand (more) about this event. It’s not only about Indonesia – we need to actually engage South-east Asian partners as well,” said Pahala, who served as deputy foreign minister under former president Joko Widodo’s administration.

He also revealed that there will be an announcement made during the forum that involves data centres.

“It’s probably going to be one of the largest data centre complexes that will be established in Asia in terms of the size as well as total capital that will be deployed,” he said.

In a message posted on the forum’s official website, Prabowo wrote that Indonesia welcomed dialogue “that leads to real partnership, real investment and real progress”. 

“(The) New Asia Forum reflects our belief that the future of growth in Asia must be built through long-term thinking, mutual respect and practical cooperation. It reflects our conviction that sustainable prosperity will come from leadership that is forward-looking, collaborative and grounded in real economic opportunity,” he said.

Ongoing consolidation of state-owned enterprises

The Bali event will take place against a backdrop of scrutiny of Indonesia’s capital markets. 

Indonesia’s stock market recently had sharp sell-offs after global index provider MSCI issued another warning in October that Indonesia could lose its emerging market status over investor concerns, including opaque ownership structures and suspected coordinated trading. MSCI first warned Indonesia in January that it could lose its emerging market status.

As far as Danantara is concerned, Pahala acknowledged that there are still some question marks surrounding the fund’s governance and processes.

He noted that Danantara’s financial statements will be released before the end of the year, calling for patience as the Audit Board of Indonesia is currently reviewing these statements.

Danantara’s chief operating officer Dony Oskaria previously said that the delay was due to Indonesia’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) not having a consolidated report in the past, and that the delay was to ensure transactions were not double-counted among the country’s more than 1,000 SOEs.

Danantara began consolidating SOEs shortly after its formation in February 2025. It has a goal of streamlining the country’s SOEs to around 250 companies over a four-year period to boost efficiency and cut underperforming firms. Danantara said on Tuesday that it has cut some 364 SOEs as at October this year.

Singapore-Indonesia relations

Asked for his view on the current state of Singapore and Indonesia’s bilateral relations, Pahala said that there’s a realisation that both countries “actually need to work together”, though he said it was unhelpful for other countries to make comments about how another country handled its domestic affairs. 

Pahala said his one-day trip to Singapore was part of continued engagement with South-east Asian economies to work on realising some of the region’s economic opportunities together and for complementary public-private partnerships.

He noted the opportunity for Singapore, Johor and Indonesia’s Riau Islands to complement one another within the advanced manufacturing sector.