VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

MInister of State-owned Enterprises, Erick Thohir is committed to maintaining the State Owned Enterprises durability in facing the economic impact from Covid-19 pandemic. He did not deny that the pandemic will also affect SOE performance. In official statement in Jakarta on Sunday (April 5), Minister Erick Thohir ensured to prioritize workers, merge other businesses, prioritize efficiency, and strengthen cash flow. The Minister added that his side had started finalizing business portfolio mapping of all SOEs and subsidiaries. As the first move, he had downsized 51 subsidiaries of state-owned oil company Pertamina, telecommunication company Telkom, and flight service company Garuda Indonesia. The downsizing will continue but remains considering its workers.

SOE Ministry had mapped the SOEs based on business portfolio. The Mapping was based on public service economic value. According to Minister Erick Thohir, the mapping will decide the move and strategy for his ministry in deciding whether to keep, transform, consolidate, divest, or release a company. He hoped, the mapping and some efficiency measures done by SOE can anticipate the economic impact in Indonesia due to Covid-19. Minister Erick Thohir said some countries including Indonesia certainly face heavy challenges in economic sector due to the pandemic. However, he affirmed, Indonesian government keeps maintaining the national economy.

President Joko Widodo had taken initiative by issuing some regulations in safeguarding national economy amid Covid-19 pandemic. Besides that, Bank Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo had affirmed the Bank Indonesia will strive to safeguard Rupiah exchange rate towards US Dollar. It was mentioned that those measures were appreciated by IMF Managing Director.