By: Bara Winatha *)
The government continues to strengthen institutional foundations to support long-term national development. One of them is through the inauguration of Wisma Danantara Indonesia as the head office of the Danantara Investment Management Agency (BPI Danantara). This building symbolizes the beginning of a new era of more integrated and professional state investment management. This institution was established based on Law Number 1 of 2025 to manage state assets strategically.
Head of BPI Danantara, Rosan Roeslani, said that the establishment of Wisma Danantara was the result of President Prabowo’s direct instruction to establish a strong and credible state wealth management agency headquarters. Rosan said that Danantara currently manages state assets worth more than US$1 trillion and oversees around 889 strategic State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN). He considered that the responsibility carried by this institution was very large, and therefore the commitment to run it in a trustworthy and professional manner was a top priority.
Wisma Danantara will be a big house for the state, business world, academics, and various stakeholders who want to contribute to the acceleration of national economic development. The existence of Danantara will accelerate the realization of inclusive and sustainable national economic growth. The growth target of 8 percent is considered realistic if managed through a strategic and collaborative approach, as has been analyzed in the latest national planning document.
On the same occasion, Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka said that Wisma Danantara will be a meeting point for collaboration between various national powers. He explained that this institution not only manages assets and investments, but also plays a role as a driver of national economic transformation. With a strong institutional structure and capacity, Danantara is believed to be able to accelerate the achievement of Indonesia’s goal of becoming a developed country in its first century of independence.
Gibran assessed that with the management of large assets and hundreds of strategic SOEs under one umbrella institution, the government now has a strong tool to direct investment in sectors that have a broad impact on society. He invited all elements of the nation to support Danantara in carrying out its constitutional mandate, namely creating people’s prosperity through fair and sustainable resource management.
Since its launch in February 2025, Danantara has shown significant achievements at the international level. This institution has succeeded in attracting investments worth more than US$7 billion from various partner countries, such as Qatar, Russia, China, and Australia. In fact, this institution is projected to receive additional funding of US$10 billion from global financial institutions in July 2025.
Meanwhile, Danantara’s Managing Director of Finance & Holding Investment, Djamal Attamimi, said that Danantara was established to answer the big challenges in managing the country’s long-term investment. Danantara has a dual role as Operation Holding and Investment Holding. Operation Holding is tasked with consolidating and improving the performance of BUMN to be more efficient and competitive globally. Meanwhile, Investment Holding focuses on placing long-term investments in priority sectors of national development. This dual strategy will be able to create sustainable synergy.
Dividends from successfully transformed SOEs will become capital blocks to fund new projects, especially in sectors that have great economic potential but have not been widely sought after because they are considered high risk by investors, but actually have great potential to boost the national economy if managed through the government’s risk mitigation strategy. He said that Danantara’s role is to be a catalyst in attracting private and foreign investment to enter strategic sectors, with an inclusive crowding-in approach.
Danantara is not only tasked as a fund manager, but also an agent of national economic transformation. This institution has a mandate to make Indonesia a center of global economic power. To that end, investment priorities will be directed to future sectors such as green technology, renewable energy, smart industrial areas, and national digital infrastructure.
In order to support this transformation, Danantara also encourages technology ownership as an important element. Therefore, Danantara will open up cross-border investment opportunities to gain access to technology that is not yet available domestically, and then domesticate it for the benefit of national development. The inauguration of Wisma Danantara is the first step to consolidate all of these strengths under one roof.
As an institution responsible for state assets on a massive scale, Danantara prioritizes the principles of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)-based governance and data-based decision-making. Its organizational structure is designed to ensure transparency, public accountability, and strict risk mitigation. Danantara has recruited the best professionals, both from the ranks of BUMN, state institutions, and from international institutions such as McKinsey, IFC, and Goldman Sachs, to strengthen institutional capacity.
Through this inauguration, the public is expected to increasingly understand that Danantara is not just a new institution, but a strategic state vehicle to create long-term added value for the people. As a state investment management institution, Danantara is here to ensure that economic growth is not only high, but also inclusive and equitable.
With the vision of Indonesia Emas 2045 as the ultimate goal, Danantara is expected to be the main instrument in accelerating the structural transformation of the national economy. Support from the community, business world, academics, and international institutions will be key elements in the success of this great mission. Wisma Danantara is now present as a representation of new hope for a more prosperous and sovereign future for Indonesia.
*)The author is an observer of strategic issues
