The State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Ministry has appointed e-commerce unicorn Bukalapak cofounder Fajrin Rasyid as a director of state-owned telecommunication firm PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom), as the company eyes a digital business expansion.

Fajrin, who held the position of president in Bukalapak, has replaced Faizal R. Djoemadi as the state enterprise’s digital business director effective on June 19.

“Fajrin’s appointment is in line with our plan to develop our digital platform and services, so we need to have a board of directors member who is competent in that field,” Telkom president director Ririek Adriansyah said during a virtual press briefing on June 19.

Telkom announced earlier this year that the company would transform its business strategy to focus more on digital services, following criticism from State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir in February about the company's overreliance on its cellular operator subsidiary Telkomsel, which contributes 70 percent of its income.

The firm has then been striving to develop various digital services based on smart platforms, such as cloud, big data and the internet of things (IoT).

Fajrin said he hoped he could use his experience in the start-up business to contribute to the development of Telkom.

“I’m very thankful for the trust given to me. Now is the time to make a greater contribution to the advancement of Indonesia and focus on developing Indonesia’s telco industry with Telkom,” Fajrin said in a statement.

Following his departure, Fajrin planned to hand over his daily functional duties and responsibilities as Bukalapak’s president to the company’s board of directors and management, the e-commerce firm said in a statement on its website.

SOEs Minister Erick Thohir said in a statement that Fajrin was the best fit to lead Telkom’s digital business development because of his track record and achievements in the digital sector especially in the post-COVID-19 economy.

“With bigger challenges ahead, every member of Telkom’s board of directors has a certain key performance index they need to follow and they should be ready to be dismissed when they fail to fulfil it,” said Erick.

Fajrin founded Bukalapak in 2011 with his partner, Achmad Zaky. Before taking on the role of president, the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) alumnus was the chief financial officer (CFO) of the e-commerce platform. He also previously worked in consulting firm Boston Consultant Group (BCG).

Bukalapak currently has 92 million users, around 6 million sellers on its platform, as well as 5 million online-to-offline partners known as Mitra Bukalapak after more than 10 years of operation.

Popular

Luhut confirms Jakarta-Surabaya high-speed rail project will continue

Nuclear option: Indonesia seeks to grow energy, cut emissions

Critical op-ed retraction tests freedom of expression