Arsjad Rasjid (born 16 March 1970) is an Indonesian businessman who is president director of the mining and energy firm . He also serves as commissioner in several other companies, and is currently chairman of the

Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry ( id, Kamar Dagang dan Industri Indonesia) or KADIN is an association of business organisations in Indonesia. Members of this organisation consist of entrepreneurs or a combination of national busin ...

for the 2021–2026 term. In September 2023, he was appointed as chairman of the 2024 presidential bid of

Ganjar Pranowo Ganjar Pranowo (born 28 October 1968) is the Governor of Central Java who has served since 23 August 2013. He is a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle. Previously, he was a member of the People's Representative Council of the ...

Early life and education

Arsjad Rasjid was born on 16 March 1970 in

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 ...

. His father H.M.N. Rasjid had served in the

Indonesian Army The Indonesian Army ( id, Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Darat (TNI-AD), ) is the land branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It has an estimated strength of 300,000 active personnel. The history of the Indonesian Army has its ...

and originated from

Palembang Palembang () is the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sumatra. The city proper covers on both banks of the Musi River on the eastern lowland of southern Sumatra. It had a population of 1,668,848 at the 2020 Census. Palembang ...

, while his mother Suniawati was of mixed

Sundanese Sundanese may refer to: * Sundanese people * Sundanese language * Sundanese script Standard Sundanese script (''Aksara Sunda Baku'', ) is a writing system which is used by the Sundanese people. It is built based on Old Sundanese script (' ...

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

descent. He began studying abroad at the age of 9, when he began to study in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. He later studied computer science at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

, and later received a bachelors in business administration from

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and t ...

in 1993. During his studies in California, he met .

Business career

After returning from their studies in the US, Rasjid and Lasmono co-founded a multimedia company, PT Prabu Wahana, in 1995. The company later was renamed to Indika, shorthand for ''Industri Multimedia dan Informatika'' (Multimedia and Information Industry). During the

Asian financial crisis The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of East Asia and Southeast Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion. However, the recovery in 1998–1 ...

, Rasjid helped restructure of the company owned by Lasmono's father . Rasjid and Lasmono began showing an interest in the energy sector in 2002, initially intending to invest in power generation before discovering a strong demand from China for coal. The pair received funding from South Korean banks, and began operations in 2005. Within Indika, Rasjid had become vice president director and president commissioner, but had primarily been president director, holding the position between 2007–2014 and since 2016. Outside Indika Energy and affiliated companies, Rasjid is also commissioner in several companies, including Grab Indonesia. In July 2021, Rasjid was elected by acclamation as chairman of the

(KADIN) for the 2021–2026 term, replacing

Rosan Roeslani Rosan Perkasa Roeslani (born 31 December 1968) is an Indonesian diplomat and businessman who is currently Vice Minister of State Owned Enterprises. He was Indonesian Ambassador to the United States. He is one of three Indonesians who bought the ...

. He took office on 7 July. He was the first KADIN chairman since 1994 to not have been affiliated with the

Bakrie Group The Bakrie Group is an Indonesian conglomerate founded by Achmad Bakrie in 1942. It has interests across various industries including mining, oil and gas, property development, infrastructure, plantations, media and telecommunications. The gr ...

, with his primary competitor for the office being the group's CEO Anindya Bakrie.

Political involvement

On 4 September 2023, Rasjid was appointed as chairman of Ganjar Pranowo's 2024 presidential campaign. Although Rasjid had previously indicated his intention to join the campaign team, he claimed that his appointment as chairman was done without prior communication and that he had found out about it from friends during an event who showed him online news articles about his appointment.

References

{{reflist 1970 births Living people People from Jakarta University of Southern California alumni Pepperdine University alumni 21st-century Indonesian businesspeople