President Prabowo Subianto announced that he has amended regulations to allow expatriates or foreign nationals (Warga Negara Asing or WNA) to lead Indonesia’s State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs). 

“I have changed the rules so that expatriates or non-Indonesian citizens can lead our state-owned enterprises. I am very enthusiastic about this change,” Prabowo said during the ‘A Meeting of Minds’ Dialogue with Steve Forbes at the Forbes Global CEO Conference 2025 held at the St. Regis Hotel, South Jakarta, on Wednesday evening, October 15, 2025. 

Prabowo stated that he wants state-owned enterprises to be managed according to international business standards — including governance, efficiency, and human resource quality. He also revealed that he had instructed the leadership of Danantara to streamline the number of state-owned enterprises. 

He requested that the number of SOEs be reduced from around 1,000 companies to between 200 and 240, aiming for them to be managed with higher standards. 

Prabowo emphasized that the return on investment of state-owned enterprises, which currently tends to remain at 1–2%, must be significantly increased to align with the standards of global corporations. 

Danantara CEO Rosan Roeslani previously stated that there are currently 844 parent companies and subsidiaries under Danantara’s management. According to Rosan, the consolidation of all state-owned enterprises under Danantara is in line with President Prabowo Subianto’s directive and represents a direct mandate from the interpretation of Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution. 

“The establishment of Danantara truly comes at a very timely moment,” Rosan said during the Danantara Indonesia Town Hall held at the Jakarta Convention Center on Monday, April 28. 

This article is published in partnership with Katadata 

Original article here