Danantara Launches, Dual Role of Regulator and Operator in the Spotlight

JAKARTA, KOMPAS - The Investment Management Agency of Daya Anagata Nusantara, or BPI Danantara, was officially launched on Monday (24/2/2025). Although Danantara's operator promises layered oversight to ensure transparency in the institution's governance, the dual role between regulator and operator still creates gaps in institutional oversight.

The Minister of Investment and Downstreaming, who also serves as the CEO of the Danantara Investment Management Agency, Rosan P. Roeslani, assured that Danantara will be closely monitored with a multi-layered supervisory structure. This is expected to create strict and transparent audit governance.

"In addition to having a supervisory board, advisory board, oversight committee, monitors, audit committee, investment committee, ethics committee, and there are still others to ensure that we run this institution properly and correctly," said Rosan after the launch of Danantara at the State Palace, Monday.

Before the launch event, President Prabowo Subianto signed regulations related to Danantara. This legal framework includes Law Number 1 of 2025 concerning the Third Amendment to Law 19/2003 on State-Owned Enterprises and Government Regulation (PP) 10/2025 on the Organization and Governance of the Investment Management Agency of Daya Anagata Nusantara.

To fill the management of the organization, the President also signed Presidential Decree Number 30 of 2025 concerning the Appointment of the Supervisory Board and Executive Board of the Daya Anagata Nusantara Investment Management Agency.

In addition to inaugurating Rosan, through this decision, the President also inaugurated Pandu Sjahrir as chief investment officer (CIO), and Dony Oskaria as chief operating officer (COO).

The Danantara Supervisory Board will be led by SOE Minister Erick Thohir as chairman and Muliaman Hadad as vice chairman. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has also been confirmed to join the Danantara Supervisory Board.

In addition, former presidents, such as Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Joko Widodo, also serve as advisors to Danantara.

"I think Danantara is an agency that is most monitored, because later everyone will be involved, because we report directly to the President. There is nothing higher than the accountability report to the President," said Rosan.

Researcher at the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef), Andry Satrio Nugroho, views the dual role of the operator as a regulator in the Danantara structure as a gap in the supervision and accountability of this institution.

"So in the current Danantara structure, the minister will supervise the minister. The Minister of Investment (Rosan Roeslani) and the Deputy Minister of SOEs as CEO and COO of Danantara will be supervised by the Minister of SOEs (Erick Thohir) as Chairman of the Danantara Supervisory Board," said Andry.

According to him, the existence of dual roles and positions will certainly raise questions for market players and global investors regarding Danantara's accountability. This is because the supervisory and operational functions will potentially be biased.

"The presence of the Minister of SOEs as supervisor and the Deputy Minister of SOEs as operational head, in my opinion, is also a sentiment that the Ministry of SOEs does not want to simply let go (of their role) to Danantara," said Andry.

Another thing that needs to be noted is that there are still BUMNs managed by Danantara that carry out public service obligations (PSO), such as PT Pertamina (Persero) and PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (Persero).

Andry assessed that BUMN with PSO could be tempted to use its strategic assets for investment purposes, instead of focusing on public services aimed at improving public welfare. It is feared that BUMN with service duties will instead slowly cut subsidies to pursue investment targets.

"This PSO is a concern for investors because it is still state money for service programs. Danantara should think about it because it can cause doubts among investors," said Andry

Danantara is a sovereign wealth fund (SWF) with total managed funds of more than 900 billion US dollars (Rp. 14,674 trillion) initiated by the President to carry out high-impact investments for the welfare of society.

The task assigned to Danantara is to manage all assets of state-owned enterprises (BUMN), including dividends which have so far been non-tax state revenues in the State Budget (APBN).

Apart from the total managed funds of 900 billion US dollars which is a combination of the asset value of all BUMN in Indonesia, Rosan continued, there are 2025 budget savings results worth 20 billion US dollars (Rp. 325.5 trillion) which will be invested through Danantara.

"This 20 billion US dollar investment will be managed by projects that will primarily be in the downstream sector, new renewable energy, food sector, and other sectors," said Rosan.

He is optimistic that with a multi-layered supervision system and optimal work, Danantara can have an impact on the welfare of the Indonesian people. He believes that the accuracy of investment targets will also accelerate economic growth in a sustainable and inclusive manner.

"With good work, Danantara can accelerate economic change to reach the 8 percent targeted by the government, and we will become a high-income country in the following years," said Rosan.

Meanwhile, Paramadina University Rector Didik J Rachbini assessed that Danantara will succeed in becoming a catalyst for economic growth if investment policies are also supported by export-oriented industrial policies. In other words, Danantara's investment must have an impact on export performance growth.

According to Didik, consumption, which has been the basis of Indonesia's economic growth, is the end result of production activities. If there is no industrialization, trade, exports, inflation, and production, then middle-class consumption will not be high. He added that high exports indicate high productivity activities in a country.

"So, the indicator of Danantara's success can be seen whether investment and exports increase. If it doesn't increase, forget it. This year the President must evaluate whether Danantara produces a pulse to be able to compete in the international market," he said.

Meanwhile, Danantara COO Dony Oskaria said that all SOEs are targeted to join Danantara by March 2025. He explained that the plan would be carried out before the General Meeting of Shareholders (GMS). "Before the GMS (Danantara) at the end of March, all SOEs must have moved to Danantara," he said.

In the initial launch stage, Danantara will manage seven state-owned enterprises, namely PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk, PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk, PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (Persero), PT Pertamina (Persero), PT Bank Negara Indonesia (Persero) Tbk, PT Telkom Indonesia (Persero) Tbk, and PT Mineral Industri Indonesia (Persero) or MIND ID.

Dony said that another Indonesian SWF, the Investment Authority (INA), would be a separate entity from Danantara. "Yes (separate)," said Dony without further explaining the division of roles between Danantara and INA in the future.

For information, INA operates based on two PPs, namely PP No. 74/2020 concerning Investment Management Institutions, and PP No. 111/2021 concerning the Addition of State Capital Participation of the Republic of Indonesia into the Capital of Investment Management Institutions.

Both PPs were made in line with the legal umbrella that formed INA, namely Law No. 11/2020 concerning Job Creation.