State-Owned Enterprises Law Passed, Will BPI Danantara Become a New Economic Catalyst?

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The Draft Law on the third amendment to Law Number 19 of 2003 concerning State-Owned Enterprises has been passed into law. One of the contents of the draft is the implementation of regulations related to the Daya Anagata Nusantara Investment Management Agency which is expected to be a catalyst for new economic growth in Indonesia.

At the plenary meeting of the Indonesian House of Representatives with the agenda of second-level discussions or decision-making on the Draft Law on the third amendment to Law Number 19 of 2003 concerning State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN), Tuesday (4/2/2025). The meeting was led by Deputy Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives Sufmi Dasco and attended by members of the Indonesian House of Representatives from various commissions, as well as Minister of BUMN Erick Tohir, Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi, and Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani.

Chairperson of Commission VI of the Indonesian House of Representatives Anggia Ermarini explained that her party had discussed the third amendment bill to Law Number 19 of 2003 concerning BUMN. Her party had also held a hearing with various parties.

According to Anggia, BUMN, which acts as an extension of the state, must be able to carry out vital functions in managing resources for the prosperity of the people. Therefore, BUMN needs to continue to transform into a professional and globally competitive business entity for economic growth. Meanwhile, the law that underlies it has been more than 22 years old and needs to be changed to meet the challenges.

There are 10 points of change in the bill that have been passed by the Indonesian House of Representatives and supported by the executive. The details are, first, the adjustment of the definition of BUMN to accommodate BUMN to be able to carry out its duties optimally according to the law, second, the establishment of the Daya Anagata Nusantara Investment Management Agency (BPI Danantara) in improving BUMN governance so that it is optimal in carrying out its duties and functions to support national economic growth.

Third, Anggia continued, the separation of the functions of BUMN regulators and operators to improve BUMN to be more professional and transparent. Fourth, regulations related to the judgment rule business that can provide benefits for the implementation of BUMN corporate actions. Fifth, affirmation related to BUMN asset management in accordance with the principles of good corporate governance, namely being carried out accountably and based on the law.

Sixth, regulations related to HR where BUMN provides opportunities for people with disabilities and local communities in accordance with the law, and female employees are given the opportunity to occupy positions as directors, commissioners, and other positions in BUMN. Seventh, regulations related to the establishment of BUMN subsidiaries in more detail, including the requirements and mechanisms for their establishment in order to contribute to the country. Eighth, fundamental regulations related to the privatization of BUMN including the criteria for BUMNs that can be privatized along with their mechanisms in order to ensure that the privatization of BUMNs provides benefits to the country.

Ninth, Anggia added, the regulation regarding the internal audit committee and other committees. And finally, the regulation regarding the obligation of BUMN to carry out coaching, training, empowerment and cooperation with MSMEs, cooperatives, and the community, by prioritizing the surrounding community as the social responsibility of BUMN.

After explaining the points, Sufmi Dasco asked for the approval of the members of the meeting for the ratification and all members shouted the word "agree" followed by a gavel bang. Sufmi also asked Minister of SOEs Erick Thohir to deliver a final opinion to represent President Prabowo.

Erick said in his speech that BUMN as a strategic state asset has a vital role in the country's economic development so it needs to transform into an efficient, professional, and globally competitive business entity in order to create other, leaner entities.

"In the BUMN Bill that has been jointly approved, there is the establishment of BPI Danantara which will manage BUMN both operationally and within it optimize dividend management to help the government achieve the economic growth target of 8 percent," said Erick.

BUMN has assets worth Rp 10,400 trillion but so far has only produced very small dividends. This means that the majority of BUMN are not optimal.

Erick said that the transformation of BUMN with the formation of BPI Danantara is a strategic step towards the golden Indonesia 2045. "For that reason, the government supports the DPR's initiative in making changes to the law," he said.

Seeing this, the Legal, Democracy and Human Rights Manager of the National Secretary of the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (FITRA) Gulfino said that this amendment law should be able to emphasize the position and function of BPI Danantara where on the other side there is a similar institution such as the Indonesia Investment Authority (INA). In addition, several functions of the Ministry of SOEs are also carried out by BPI Danantara.

"The state often makes policies that are ineffective, overlapping. But we see that BPI Danantara has enough hope to be able to capitalize BUMN to be more optimal," said Gulfino.

Gulfino said that BPI Danantara's authority needs to be clarified to anticipate the emergence of people with personal or group interests, including people involved in BUMN. "Don't let people in BUMN hold concurrent positions in Danantara, so who is supervising whom. Danantara must be filled by independent and credible people," he said.

In FITRA's records, BUMN has assets worth Rp 10,400 trillion but so far has only produced very small dividends. This means that the majority of BUMN are not optimal. Gulfino said that only 10 BUMN have maximum performance.

"The authority that is being given to BPI Danantara is an authority that is more likely to capitalize on BUMN assets to have a greater impact on state revenue. Our APBN posture is dominated by taxes, when there is income diversification from BUMN dividends, it is a breath of fresh air for our APBN posture," said Gulfino.

Unfortunately, there are still many questions that have not been answered by the newly passed amendment law. Not only about the people in it, but also the functions and authorities of BPI Danantara which were passed through the law.

Responding to this, after the plenary meeting, one of the members of Commission VI of the Indonesian House of Representatives from Gerindra, Andre Rosiade, said that BPI has the authority to manage all investments in Indonesia. The details of its duties and authorities will be clarified by the President and the executive through government regulations.

"The DPR's task is complete, basically we just wait for the PP (government regulation). Who is prepared in Danantara, the President determines, including the details. Wait for the PP," said Andre.

In line with that, Herman Khaeron, a member of Commission VI from the Democratic Party, revealed that the work and function of BPI Danantara will not overlap with the Ministry of SOEs because the institution is equivalent to the Ministry of SOEs. BPI Danantara is under the President like other ministries, other institutions related to holding investment, including INA, will be under Danantara.

"Of course there will be alignment or harmonization, we will wait for the derivative legal umbrella (PP), the point is that structurally and in detail, Danantara's authority is directly under the President," said Khaeron.

This was also conveyed by Sufmi Dasco when asked about BUMN assets that will be transferred to Danantara. He said that the regulation regarding the BUMN Bill itself has not been issued so he appealed to the public to wait.

"So, let the law be issued first, let the PP be issued first so that it is clear, if it is piecemeal, then the understanding of the BUMN Law will be unclear," said Dasco.