Aburizal Bakrie (born 15 November 1946) is an Indonesian politician and a widely recognised successful businessman in Indonesia via his conglomerate Bakrie Group. From 2004 until 2005 Bakrie served as Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Economy. From 2005 until 2009 he served as Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare. Since 2009, Bakrie served as the Chairman of the Golkar Party up to late 2014, and resumed chairmanship in May 2015.
He is well known to be responsible of the Sidoarjo mud flow via his company Energi Mega Persada.
Early life and education
Bakrie was born on 15 November 1946 in Jakarta. His father is Achmad Bakrie, the founder of Bakrie & Brothers and Bakrie Group. His mother is Roosniah Nasution. Bakrie is the eldest of four, he has two brothers, Nirwan Bakrie and Indra Usmansyah Bakrie, and a sister Roosniah Odi Bakrie. Bakrie attended the Bandung Institute of Technology where he obtained a degree in electrical engineering in 1973.
Career
Business career
In 1972 Bakrie joined PT Bakrie & Brothers Tbk known today as the Bakrie Group, the conglomerate founded by his late father , which prospered much like the rest of the Indonesian economy during the Soeharto presidency. The Bakrie Group conducts business in agriculture, real estate, trade, shipping, banking, insurance, media, manufacturing, construction, and mining. Aburizal Bakrie, the eldest of four siblings was the chairman of the family enterprise from 1999 to 2004. In 1998 the Asian economic crisis challenged Bakrie's control of the conglomerate, from which he emerged victorious after a successful refinancing process in 2000.
Public offices
From 1991 to 1995 Bakrie served two consecutive terms as the President of the ASEAN Business Forum and two consecutive terms from 1994 to 2004 as the President of the KADIN. As a member of the Golkar party Bakrie was running to become Golkar's candidate for the presidency in 2004.
Coordinating Minister for Economy
In 2004 Bakrie retired from PT Bakrie & Brothers Tbk before being named Coordinating Minister for Economy. The appointment by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was initially viewed with some reservation. Shortly after being named to the cabinet of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Bakrie set in motion a new government policy calling for a 3% reduction of Indonesians living in poverty, by reducing fuel subsidies in exchange for financial support to approximately 6 million people. Bakrie argued the government's need to gradually increase fuel prices to keep fuel subsidies from busting its budget, while bringing the cost of fuel closer to international levels. By October 2005 and after two price hikes, the cost of fuel increased by 126%. Standard & Poor's rated the hike as an encouraging move to relieve immediate pressure on the country's fiscal position and external balance.
In a move to stem Indonesia's declining output of crude oil, Bakrie weighed in to end a standoff between ExxonMobil Corporation and PT Pertamina. The companies had been at odds for many years, following their dispute over operational and profit sharing issues in the Cepu Block oil fields project, the OPEC member's biggest oil discovery on Java in decades. The previous year Bakrie pledged that the new government wanted to resolve the Cepu and other disputes involving international companies, in a show of its commitment to improving Indonesia's investment climate.
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare
After a reshuffling of the cabinet in 2005, Bakrie was appointed Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare. In May 2008 Bakrie announced the handout of $1.52 billion to nearly 19 million low income households as part of a direct cash relief program aimed to cushion the blow of the fuel increase.
Chairman of Golkar party
In 2009 Bakrie was elected as the Chairman of Golkar party at Golkar Party Congress in Pekanbaru, Riau, Indonesia after defeating Surya Paloh, Yuddy Chrisnandi and Hutomo Mandala Putra. In May 2010, he successfully formed and was elected the leader of a majority parliamentary coalition with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's party.