May 2018 - Forbes Indonesia
The fourth industrial revolution, or 4IR for short, is a hot topic in government circles these days, with bureaucrats scrambling to come up with action plans to prepare their economies for the coming 4IR disruption. In a similar fashion, a less-heralded but equally powerful transformation may also be underway in Indonesia?s SOE sector -- call it SOE 4.0. While long a major component of the economy, SOEs have suffered from the perception of being less innovative and efficient than their privately run peers. That notion may be changing, as demonstrated by the following profiles of some leading SOEs. Led by a new generation of energetic and farsighted leaders, many SOEs are evolving to become more open and entrepreneurial in their attitudes and strategies.
This change cannot come too soon, as the current Joko "Jokowi" Widodo administration is placing SOEs as one of the main driving forces in the current infrastructure buildout, a process which is addressing the country's woeful logistics and other bottlenecks to growth. In parallel, the administration is also moving to create potential world champions, consolidating and streamlining the SOEs, sometimes into larger entities, in order that they can better compete in a more globalized and tech driven world embracing the fourth industrial revolution.
Not to be left out is banking and finance, with the cover story on Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI). The lender managed to both grow and reduce risk -- no easy task for a bank -- by deftly funding infrastructure projects, as well as looking for other areas that have strong growth prospects, good margins but manageable risks. Even the fintech sector, which many see as threatening disruption to traditional banks and financial service firms, does not worry BNI's leadership much. Instead, the bank sees many fintech firms as a source of new growth, profits and partnerships. In sum, it may be time to start taking a fresh look at Indonesia's SOEs. Rather than lumbering bureaucratic giants, at least those at the forefront are showing that there's a way forward for them to become more efficient, innovative and exciting contributors to the nation's development.
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