Yesterday, Sucor Sekuritas held a very exciting talk show with the theme "
Danantara Indonesia: Revolutionary Vision or Architectural Overreach?"
When you hear the name Danantara, it might already sound familiar.
In essence, this is a grand strategy to
elevate Indonesian state-owner companies to a global level through more efficient operations and smarter investments.
But how will this be achieved?
First, through an
operating holding that focuses on strengthening SOEs. Second, through an
investment holding aimed at driving economic growth, creating jobs, and attracting foreign technology to Indonesia.
Behind Danantara, there are big names in the business world:
Rosan P. Roeslani (CEO), Donny Oskaria (COO), and Pandu Sjahrir (CIO), all of whom have extensive experience in finance and investment industries.
Plus, there’s
Erick Thohir as the Minister of SOEs, ensuring that everything remains aligned with government policies.
Yesterday, we were incredibly fortunate to hear directly from
Mr. Pandu Sjahrir, who was a speaker at the talk show.
He shared many insightful points on how Danantara can make SOEs more agile and profitable without relying on APBN.
Now, many might still wonder:
What exactly is the difference between Danantara and SOEs?
Simply put, Danantara is the "
operator," while the MSOE is the "
regulator."
Danantara is responsible for managing SOEs, handling dividends, and allocating capital to ensure investments are well-targeted. Its funding comes from dividends and investments, without drawing from APBN.
With this model,
Danantara has more flexibility to drive changes in SOEs, while the government maintains control over regulation and policies.
Currently, Danantara is still in the process of building its team. They have not yet fully hired and are still looking for the best leaders in their industries.
Interestingly, the most sought-after position is CEO.
Why? Because
they’re not just looking for people who chase salaries or profits, but for leaders who want to leave a legacy, those who want to be remembered for driving significant change.
Furthermore, Mr. Pandu Sjahrir explained it clearly yesterday: Danantara will become one of the most transparent
Sovereign Wealth Funds in the world. Because Danantara also believes that build market trust is a must.
Sometimes,
our problem is not always about financial crisis, but a confidence crisis. The market needs certainty, and the best way to achieve that is by demonstrating transparency in asset and investment management.
Moreover, Danantara's three key of measurements are,
increased shareholder dividend, growth of NAV and investment return above cost of capital.
And Mr Pandu also explained further about three out of six Danantara’s prioritized
investments sector, downstreaming, renewable energy and digital infrastructure.
One of the most exciting downstreaming is, of course,
nickel, as Indonesia holds
60% of the world’s total nickel.
Currently, nickel companies in Indonesia are experiencing a
downturn after its sector boom from 2018-2023.
But, Mr Pandu believes it’s not for a long time.
Why? Sometimes something like this conditions create opportunities.
For example, if we look back to 2015, after commodity boom,
coal prices plummeted. And it triggered massive industry consolidation. Which now turns out to be quite successful and stable.
Now, the same thing is happening with nickel.
Indonesian Nickel Production
From 2018 to 2023, nickel production performed well, but the industry is currently
experiencing a downturn.
Danantara sees this as an opportunity to dive deeper, especially in upstream and midstream segments, which will later connect to a broader value chain:
batteries, EVs, and exports.
The other two are digital infrastructure and renewable energy.
As we know, competition in data center is regional in scale, with
demand coming from tech giants, like Microsoft and other major players.
Not forget to mention for AI. Its exposure is another crucial factor. Today, more people
under 35 use ChatGPT for information rather than traditional search engines.
This shift has driven a surge in demand for data centers, as AI requires strong infrastructure to process vast amounts of data.
And if we talk about AI and data centers, they undoubtedly require a huge amount of electricity.
This is why Danantara sees the importance of investing in Indonesia’s renewable energy, such as hydro power and solar power.
Energy sufficiency is crucial for Indonesia’s bargaining power in attracting major tech companies to build data centers in the country.
Therefore, in our view, Indonesia is truly blessed. We are rich in fossil fuel energy like coal as well as renewable energy.
This combination significantly enhances Indonesia’s bargaining position compared to other regional countries.
In our opinion, stocks of coal companies and renewable energy companies, such as ADRO and AADI, will sooner or later become beneficiaries of these plans.
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