Bahlil Lahadalia (born 7 August 1976) is an Indonesian businessman and politician. He has been serving as Minister of Investment since April 2021, dual-hatted as head of the Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), which he had served since October 2019. He has also served as Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources ''ad interim'' since 3 February 2022.

Early life and education

He was born in and had most of his education in Maluku, from elementary to junior high school before moving to

Fak-Fak Fakfak () is a town in West Papua and seat of the Fakfak Regency. It had a population of 12,566 at the 2010 Census, which rose to 18,900 at the 2020 Census.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. It is served by Fakfak Airport. It is the only town i ...

, (where his father is from) to take high school. He decided to study economics in

Jayapura Jayapura (formerly Dutch: ''Hollandia'') is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of Papua. It is situated on the northern coast of New Guinea island and covers an area of . The city borders the Pacific Ocean and Yos Sudarso ...

at Port Numbay Economy College, a local private college. However, as he revealed during a guest lecture in

University of Brawijaya The University of Brawijaya ( id, Universitas Brawijaya, abbreviated as UB), was established on 5 January 1963 and located in Malang. It is an autonomous state university in Indonesia. University of Brawijaya is recognized as one of the elite ...

, he graduated very late at age of 26 years old, as his education was interrupted due to his involvement in the

May 1998 riots The May 1998 riots of Indonesia ( id, Kerusuhan Mei 1998), also known as the 1998 tragedy (''Tragedi 1998'') or simply the 1998 event (''Peristiwa 1998''), were incidents of Riot, mass violence, mass protest, demonstrations, and civil unrest ...

. During his time as a student, he was active in the

Muslim Students' Association The Muslim Students Association, or Muslim Student Union, of the U.S. and Canada, also known as MSA National, is a religious organization dedicated to establishing and maintaining Islamic societies on college campuses in Canada and the United Sta ...

in Papua, and he eventually reached the position of General Treasurer of the National Leadership of the Muslim Students' Association.

Early and businesses careers

His first job was as a cake seller when he was a pre-teen. He later became a

bus conductor Bus conductors (also referred to as conductors, or clippies) were a common feature of many bus services across Europe until the late 1970s and early 1980s. The main reason two-person crews were needed was that most towns and cities used doubl ...

when he was just a teenager, and eventually became a public transportation driver when he was in senior high school. Years later, after he had graduated from Port Numbay, he was hired as a worker of Sucofindo, a state-run company. With his friends, he later founded three companies named PT Rifa Capital, PT Bersama Papua Unggul, and PT Dwijati Sukses. He owns PT Rifa Capital Holding Company and 10 other companies, and is active mostly in the transportation and property sectors. He is a former chairman of the Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association. As a businessman, at some point in time, he met

Joko Widodo Joko Widodo (; born 21 June 1961), popularly known as Jokowi, is an Indonesian politician and businessman who is the 7th and current president of Indonesia. Elected in July 2014, he was the first Indonesian president not to come from an elite ...

who was a fellow businessman at that time and befriended him. The friendship they shared was very close to the point Joko Widodo himself considered him a brother.

Governmental careers

During

2019 Indonesian presidential election General elections were held in Indonesia on 17 April 2019. For the first time in the country's history, the president, the vice president, members of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), and members of local legislative bodies were elected ...

, Lahadalia supported Joko Widodo for his run for second term of his presidency. He became Director of Directorate for Young Voters Raiser of the Joko Widodo -

Ma'ruf Amin Ma'ruf Amin (born 11 March 1943) is an Indonesian politician, Islamic cleric, and lecturer who is the 13th and current vice president of Indonesia. Aged nearly 77 years old when inaugurated, he is the oldest Indonesian vice president to ever ...

presidential campaign team, National Campaign Team of the Working Indonesia Coalition. For his work for Joko Widodo campaign in defending his presidency, in October 2019, he was appointed head of BKPM (Indonesian: ''Badan Koordinasi Penanaman Modal'', English: Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board). He was sworn in as Indonesia's first minister of investment on 28 April 2021, following the creation of the

Ministry of Investment The Ministry of Investment (Indonesian: ''Kementerian Investasi'') is a government ministry formed by the Indonesian government in 2021. The ministry responsible for investment affairs and facilitating easiness of investment in Indonesia. History ...

. On 4 February 2022, Arifin Tasrif, the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources suddenly replaced with Lahadalia as ''ad interim'' minister for undisclosed health-related issue reason. The change is effective from 3 February 2022. It later revealed that Tasrif is infected with COVID-19, and the change of the ministry is just temporary.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lahadalia, Bahlil 1976 births Living people Indonesian politicians People from Maluku (province)