Abdul Latief is the prominent Indonesian businessman and politician. He was the founder of Pasaraya department store and television channel of

Lativi tvOne (Formerly known as Lativi) is an Indonesian free-to-air television network based in East Jakarta. tvOne is owned by Visi Media Asia, a unit of Bakrie Group. As Lativi, The channel was launched as a test broadcast on 17 January 2002 at 4:0 ...

, as well as the former Indonesian minister in the New Order era.

Early life

Abdul Latief was born on April 27, 1940, in

Banda Aceh Banda Aceh ( Acehnese: ''Banda Acèh'', Jawoë: كوتا بند اچيه) is the capital and largest city in the province of Aceh, Indonesia. It is located on the island of Sumatra and has an elevation of . The city covers an area of and had ...

Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a spe ...

. He was bought up according to

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

and Minangkabau traditions. Latief's father was a textile trader and his mother was an activist in

Aisyiyah Aisyiyah ( ar, عائشية, lit=followers of Aisha, translit=ʿĀʾishiyah) is an Islamic non-governmental organization in Indonesia dedicated to female empowerment and charitable work. It was formed on 19 May 1917 by Nyai Ahmad Dahlan to facili ...

(a part of the

Muhammadiyah Muhammadiyah ( ar, محمدية; 'followers of Muhammad'); also known as the Muhammadiyah Society ( id, Persyarikatan Muhammadiyah) is a major Islamic non-governmental organization in Indonesia.A. Jalil HamidTackle the rising cost of living longer ...

Islamic organization). In 1950, Latief's family moved from

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

. While at school, he performed well enough academically to become the best student. After graduating, Latief worked as head of promotion in the

Sarinah PT Sarinah (Persero) is an Indonesian retail company owned by PT Aviasi Pariwisata Indonesia (Persero) (InJourney), a state-owned holding company. Its flagship store, Sarinah Building in M.H. Thamrin Street of Central Jakarta, was the first sk ...

department store. He also attended in-store management courses in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. In 1972, Latief founded the Young Indonesian Entrepreneur Community, known as HIPMI, and he was elected as leader for 1972–1973.

Business career

After working for about nine years in department stores, in 1972 Latief decided he wanted to own a department store, but had to settle for a variety store. Starting from a mini store in

Grogol Grogol is an urban administrative village in the Grogol Petamburan subdistrict of West Jakarta, Indonesia. The triangle-shaped administrative village is bounded by the West Flood Canal to the east, Jakarta Inner Ring Road to the west, and Jal ...

, Latief and his brother, Abdul Muthalib, founded PT Latief Marda Corporation. Two years later, they founded PT Indonesia Product Centre Sarinah Jaya, with brand name Pasaraya. In 2001, Latief expanded his business into television, by establishing the Lativi television channel. Latief is also involved in the property business with development of Sentraya 41-storey skyscraper in Blok M,

South Jakarta South Jakarta ( id, Jakarta Selatan; bew, Jakarte Beludik ), colloquially known as ''Jaksel'', is one of the five administrative cities which form the Special Capital Region of Jakarta, Indonesia. South Jakarta is not self-governed and does not h ...

. In 1990s, Latief published two printed media namely Tiras magazine and Neraca daily newspaper. At the end of 1990s, Abdul Latief as well as

Fahmi Idris Fahmi Idris (Born in Jakarta on September 20, 1943 - May 22, 2022) was an Indonesian prominent businessman and politician. He was an Indonesian government minister under the Habibie and Yudhoyono presidencies. He received a doctorate title fro ...

, Aminuzal Amin, and Nasroel Chas established a joint venture company Nagari Development Corporation (NDC), which aims to improve the Minangkabau community. Today, all of his business in retailing, media, property, advertising, finance, and agrobusiness are grouped in the ALatief Corporation.

Political career

In 1993, Latief was chosen as a Minister of Manpower under Soeharto presidency. During his term of office, the government approved the regional minimum salary for labor, known as 'Upah Minimum Regional'. He was re-elected as Minister of Tourism, Art, and Culture in 1998.

References

External links

Tokohindonesia.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Latief, Abdul Indonesian businesspeople Minangkabau people 1940 births Living people

Early life

Business career

Political career

See also

References

External links