R

osan P. Roeslani was elected chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) on Tuesday after collecting 102 out of a total of 129 votes during the organization'€™s national congress in Bandung, West Java.

His competitor, former trade minister Rachmat Gobel, attracted 27 votes.

The congress had to opt for an election after the two camps failed to reach a consensus for determining the leadership of the powerful business group. The new chairman will soon appoint an executive board that will participate in policy-making with the government and attempt to create a climate conducive to business amid a weak domestic economy.

Rosan'€™s election to lead Kadin, which represents the local business community in dealing with domestic policies and overseas partners, comes as businesses are being hit by weak domestic economic growth that has hovered around 4.7 percent in the past few quarters, levels unseen since 2009.

Rosan, currently the president director of coal producer Bukit Mutiara, has had experience leading Berau Coal Energy, Recapital Advisor, Vallar Plc and Bumi Plc, among others, all of which are somehow affiliated with the Bakrie Group.

The 47-year-old has said he envisions Kadin to be the government'€™s equal partner and the primary representative of businesses in Indonesia for the formulation and implementation of domestic economic policies. To do so, he added, Kadin must ensure that central and regional Kadin members were in alignment with each other.

'€œWe [will] make weekly, monthly and quarterly reports, as well as annual reports,'€ said the MBA graduate of Antwerpen European University in Belgium.

The government is undergoing structural reform through economic policy packages to stimulate the country'€™s economy and in doing so it is conducting discussions with stakeholders, who include businesspeople, to ensure well-targeted policies.

Rosan'€™s priorities also include selecting strategic industries to be developed both domestically and internationally. He cited the crude palm oil, footwear and telecommunications sectors as potential examples.

He also puts emphasis on youth empowerment, especially in developing the creative economy industry and in flourishing start-up businesses. '€œSince January this year only, the investment in these sectors has reached US$800 million,'€ said the founder and chairman of Amanah Recapital Foundation.

In the race to lead Kadin, Rosan beat electronics mogul Rachmat, who was removed from President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo'€™s Cabinet during a shake-up in August, less than a year through Jokowi'€™s administration.

The selection process was done with a voting mechanism that involved more than 100 Kadin members, in place of the traditional musyawarah mufakat (deliberation for a consensus) that is based on presentations from regional Kadin members and Kadin business associations.

Outgoing Kadin chairman Suryo Bambang Sulisto emphasized that the new Kadin chairman'€™s main task would be to synergize with the government in facing the global economic slowdown and the period of low commodity prices. '€œWe must think about how to boost economic growth and increase people'€™s incomes,'€ he said.
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