JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s new cabinet consists of a mix of professional and political appointees with some names remaining on the job after serving for Prabowo’s predecessor, Joko Widodo.
Below are short biographies of the key ministers:
SRI MULYANI INDRAWATI, FINANCE MINISTER
Indonesia’s first woman finance minister, Sri Mulyani, 62, is already one of the country’s longest serving finance ministers, working under presidents Yudhoyono and Widodo.
She has won international recognition for reforming Indonesia’s tax system and steering Southeast Asia’s largest economy through the global financial crisis in 2008 and the pandemic.
A former World Bank managing director, she studied economics at the University of Indonesia before pursuing a master’s degree and a doctoral degree from University of Illiniois Urbana-Champaign in the United States.
Sri Mulyani is regularly listed as among 100 most powerful women in the world by Forbes magazine.
AIRLANGGA HARTARTO, COORDINATING MINISTER FOR ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
Airlangga, 62, is continuing on from his role as Widodo’s chief economic affairs minister. He is a senior politician, and until earlier this year, the chairman of Indonesia’s second largest political party Golkar.
Airlangga, whose father was a minister for late authoritarian leader Suharto, holds a master’s degree from Australia’s Monash University.
When serving for Widodo, Airlangga has been a staunch defender of palm oil – an important industry in Indonesia – in global markets, exchanging barbs with critics and diplomats.
Prior to his public roles, he held senior jobs with local companies in finance, and the paper-making and chemical industries.
AGUS GUMIWANG KARTASASMITA, INDUSTRY MINISTER
The 55-year-old Golkar politician was also Widodo’s industry minister and son of a former minister under Suharto. Agus was previously an executive at high-end property developer Asiana Lintas Development.
A graduate of the U.S. Pacific Western University, he also has a doctoral degree from Indonesia’s Padjadjaran University.
BAHLIL LAHADALIA, ENERGY MINISTER
Bahlil, 48, is one of Widodo’s loyalists and the chairman of Golkar party. Widodo moved him from the post of investment minister to energy minister months before Prabowo’s inauguration.
Growing up in the restive region of Papua, Bahlil says he has worked in jobs ranging from driving a bus to selling fish, before he built a fortune in wood trading. Prior to joining the government, his business interests included investment in coal and nickel mining.
Last week, Bahlil obtained a doctoral degree from the University of Indonesia after defending a paper about the governance of nickel refining.
BUDI SANTOSO, TRADE MINISTER
Budi, 56, has spent his career as a bureaucrat at the trade ministry. His last position was the ministry’s secretary general, after previously working in Taiwan as the head of Indonesia’s Economic and Trade Office and in India as a trade attache.
He has a master’s degree from the University of Indonesia and a PhD from Sahid University in Jakarta.
SUGIONO, FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER
Sugiono, 45, is a former member of the army’s special forces. After leaving the army, he joined Prabowo’s Gerindra party, rising through the ranks to become its deputy chair. He was a member of parliament in a commission overseeing foreign affairs, defence and security.
Once Prabowo’s private secretary, Sugiono, a Norwich University graduate, has kept a low profile, rarely appearing in the media. State news agency Antara described Sugiono as Prabowo’s “ideological child” and one of his most trusted aides.
ERICK THOHIR, STATE ENTERPRISES MINISTER
Thohir, 54, comes from a wealthy family that has businesses in entertainment, food and media. His brother, Garibaldi Thohir, runs one of the world’s biggest coal exporters, Adaro Energy.
As Widodo’s state enterprises minister, Thohir, who holds a master’s degree from National University in the U.S., closed down unprofitable state companies and oversaw high-profile debt restructuring of companies like airline Garuda, Krakatau Steel and some construction firms.
A former chairman of Italian soccer club Inter Milan, Thohir now is one of the owners of Oxford United and the chairman of Indonesia’s football association PSSI.
ROSAN ROESLANI, INVESTMENT MINISTER
Before joining the government as Indonesia’s ambassador in Washington in 2021, Rosan, 55, was a businessman. He successfully led Prabowo’s presidential campaign and was named Widodo’s investment minister months before the transition of government.
Rosan co-founded investment firm Recapital Group, which gained momentum by selling debt-restructured companies after the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. The company has business in asset management and property, among others, now.
He holds a master’s degree from Antwerpen European Unversity in Belgium.
SJAFRIE SJAMSOEDDIN, DEFENCE MINISTER
Retired Lt Gen. Sjafrie, 71, has been friends with Prabowo since their military academy days and is considered one of Prabowo’s closest allies.
Like Prabowo, he has been barred from entering the United States and he faces allegations of human rights abuses during the 1998 Jakarta riots and when Indonesia occupied East Timor. He has never been charged and has denied wrongdoing.
Sjafrie was former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s deputy defence minister.
(Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman, Gayatri Suroyo; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
