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Jakarta Post

Lutfi has months to fix country'€™s trade issues

Muhammad Lutfi: (JP/R

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
Thu, February 13, 2014

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Lutfi has months to fix country'€™s trade issues Muhammad Lutfi: (JP/R. Berto Wedhatama) (JP/R. Berto Wedhatama)

Muhammad Lutfi: (JP/R. Berto Wedhatama)

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Wednesday officially named Muhammad Lutfi as the new trade minister, replacing Gita Wirjawan who resigned from the post on Jan. 31.

In his brief speech, the President said 44-year-old Lutfi was the right person to lead the Trade Ministry. '€œI find Muhammad Lutfi capable of succeeding Gita Wirjawan as the new trade minister,'€ Yudhoyono said on Wednesday.

He will have eight months to handle the daunting task of fixing the country'€™s erratic rice trading system and preparing Indonesia for the ASEAN Economic Community.

Lutfi recently served three years as Indonesian ambassador to Japan and is no stranger to business.

Before serving as ambassador, Lutfi was Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) head and, along with businessmen Erick Thohir, Wishnu Wardhana and Harry Zulnardy, founded the Mahaka Group, a printing, broadcasting and multimedia company, in which he was president director and CEO.

Lutfi became chairman of the Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association for Greater Jakarta (HIPMI JAYA) in 1998 and was then elected national chairman of HIPMI from 2001 to 2004.

He started his bureaucratic career in 2005 after Yudhoyono appointed him head of the BKPM for five years. At 36, he was the youngest person to head the agency.

As BKPM head, Lutfi was nicknamed '€œMr. Fix It'€ by the investor community for his famous slogan '€œFrom Red Tape to Red Carpet'€ in transforming the agency into an approachable one.

Indonesia was then listed 21st in the top 25 investment destinations by global management consulting firm ATKearney.

The country was also recognized as one of the best-performing developing countries, alongside Brazil, China, Russia, India and South Africa, by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

In 2008, Lutfi, who is the husband of actress Bianca Adinegoro, received the Influential Young Leader Award from World Economic Forum'€™s (WEF) Young Global Leaders.

Lutfi will look to maintain national price stability, promote the environmental sustainability of Indonesian commodities and increase exports, to enhance cooperation within the framework of
the G-20 and other regional regimes such as ASEAN and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). (alz)

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