*) By: Gavin Asadit
The transformation of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) entered a new phase in 2026, as the economic reform agenda implemented by President Prabowo Subianto’s administration strengthened. The government has positioned strengthening the productivity of state assets as a crucial instrument for accelerating economic growth, increasing spending efficiency, and increasing the economic benefits returned to the community. Within this framework, the establishment of the Danantara Indonesia Investment Management Agency (BPI) is positioned as a strategic step to ensure that state assets are not merely managed as administrative portfolios, but become drivers of greater added value for national development.
Through this new approach, the government is encouraging a shift in perspectives on SOEs. While previously perceived as merely instruments for service and asset management, policy direction is now shifting toward creating more measurable value through business consolidation, strengthening governance, operational efficiency, and developing investments in priority sectors. Danantara was established with a mandate to optimize Indonesia’s strategic assets through an integrated investment approach so that the proceeds can be reinvested in strengthening long-term economic development. The government believes that the substantial value of state assets must be matched by the ability to generate a greater and more sustainable economic impact.
Danantara Indonesia’s Chief Executive Officer, Rosan Roeslani, has prioritized the transformation of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) as an agenda focused not only on improving company performance but also on establishing a healthier national economic structure. In various transformation evaluations conducted throughout 2026, Danantara began consolidating hundreds of SOE entities to ensure more focused and efficient asset management. The government is targeting streamlining corporate structures to accelerate business processes, control operational costs, and provide state-owned enterprises with greater room for sustainable growth. According to Rosan, strengthening the quality of state-owned asset management is one of the foundations for creating economic value that can be felt more broadly by the public.
Strengthening the productivity of state assets is also part of the national efficiency agenda directed by President Prabowo. Dony Oskaria, Head of the State-Owned Enterprises Agency (BP BUMN), and Chief Operating Officer of Danantara Indonesia, explained that an internal evaluation identified layered transaction practices between parent companies, subsidiaries, and subsidiary entities that had been generating significant additional costs. The excessively long structure was deemed to slow down the decision-making process and create inefficiencies that reduced the competitiveness of state-owned enterprises. Therefore, the government has initiated consolidation to simplify the organization, strengthen core company functions, and improve the effectiveness of resource utilization. From this process, the government estimates the potential for efficiency to reach around IDR 50 trillion per year, which can then be redirected to support investment and development in priority sectors.
While prioritizing efficiency as a key agenda, the government emphasized that the transformation is not aimed at reducing the role of the state or sacrificing the workforce. The chosen approach is to strengthen management quality, simplify business structures, and increase organizational productivity. The government believes that state assets will yield maximum returns if managed through a more adaptive structure with a clear business focus. Therefore, the restructuring is being carried out with the principles of sustainability and protection of human resources, which have long been part of the state-owned enterprise ecosystem.
This transformation agenda is also supported by changes to the institutional architecture of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The government is separating commercial management and regulatory functions to ensure more effective oversight and business implementation. In the new structure, BP BUMN (State-Owned Enterprises Supervisory Agency) carries out regulatory functions and strengthens governance, while Danantara (Indonesian Agency for State-Owned Enterprises) focuses on developing investment value and managing the state asset portfolio. The government considers this separation of functions essential to creating a more professional system and clarifying accountability in public asset management.
The transformation does not stop at organizational efficiency. The government is also beginning to direct state-owned enterprises to be more active drivers of national economic development. Danantara Chief Investment Officer, Pandu Sjahrir, places investment discipline and strengthening asset quality as key to SOEs’ growth and competitiveness. He believes that operationally sound state-owned enterprises will have greater capacity to support development.
priority sectors such as energy, industrial downstreaming, food security, infrastructure, public services, and digital transformation. With more integrated management, economic outcomes will not only improve company performance but also broaden their impact on national development.
President Prabowo’s administration has positioned SOE reform as the foundation for a stronger and more competitive economy. With business consolidation, strengthened governance, separation of institutional functions, and investment optimization, the government is optimistic that state-owned enterprises can enter a new phase as modern and productive engines of growth. Amidst the challenges of the ever-changing global economy, this transformation is expected to ensure that every state asset not only maintains its value but truly works to drive Indonesia’s long-term progress.
)* The author is an observer of social and community issues.