Ignasius Jonan (born 21 June 1963) is an Indonesian professional who was the
Indonesian
Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to:
* Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia
** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago
** Indonesian ...
Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources serving under President
Joko Widodo's
administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...
. He is a former Indonesian
Minister of Transportation
A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...
and a former
CEO of the Indonesian government-owned railway company,
PT Kereta Api Indonesia
PT Kereta Api Indonesia (Persero) (English: Indonesian Railways Company, abbreviated as PT KAI or simply KAI) is the sole operator of public railways in Indonesia. It is completely state-owned and pays track access charges to the government. ...
(PT. KAI) which he headed from 2009 to 2014.
Born 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, bor ...
, Jonan received his Bachelor's degree in Accounting from
Airlangga University
Airlangga University ( Indonesian: ''Universitas Airlangga''; jv, ꦈꦤꦶꦮ꦳ꦼꦂꦱꦶꦠꦱ꧀ꦄꦲꦶꦂꦭꦁꦒ, abbreviated as Unair or UA) is the second-oldest university in Indonesia and also a public university located in Su ...
,
Surabaya in 1986, and M.A. in International Relations and Affairs from the
Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy is the graduate school of international affairs of Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts. The School is one of America's oldest graduate schools of international relations and is well-ranked in it ...
and
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...
in 2005. He started his professional career in the banking sector, holding a managing director role and investment banking head in
Citigroup Indonesia, before entering the public transportation sector in 2009. He was named by
Sofyan Djalil, the then-Minister of State-owned Enterprises, to lead
P.T. Kereta Api Indonesia.
Early life and education
Jonan was born on 21 June 1963 in Singapore. He grew up in
Surabaya, graduating from St. Louis 1 Catholic High School in the city. He later graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Accounting from
Airlangga University
Airlangga University ( Indonesian: ''Universitas Airlangga''; jv, ꦈꦤꦶꦮ꦳ꦼꦂꦱꦶꦠꦱ꧀ꦄꦲꦶꦂꦭꦁꦒ, abbreviated as Unair or UA) is the second-oldest university in Indonesia and also a public university located in Su ...
's School of Business and Economics in 1985. He took executive and management programs between 1999 and 2000 from
Columbia Business School and
John F. Kennedy School of Government
The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...
at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
. Jonan received his Master's degree in International Relations in 2005 from the Global Master of Arts Program (GMAP) at The
Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy is the graduate school of international affairs of Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts. The School is one of America's oldest graduate schools of international relations and is well-ranked in it ...
,
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...
.
Career
Jonan started his career as an accountant and investment manager. In 1999, he became Director for Private Equity at Citigroup branch in Indonesia. Two years later, he was appointed CEO of the government-owned investment firm, PT. Bahana Pembinaan Usaha Indonesia, assuming the role until 2006. From 2006 to 2009, he was promoted by Citi as Managing Director and Head of Investment Banking for Indonesia.
PT KAI
Jonan was appointed head of P.T. Kereta Api Indonesia in 2009, in the midst of the railway company's output and financial troubles, He was faced with PT. KAI's 27,000 employees with low expectations in terms of work quality, a financial deficit (in 2008, it lost Rp 82.6 billion), and a high percentage of substandard or broken locomotives, diesel trains, freight cars and crumbling stations. In an speech for the
Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club
The Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club (JFCC) is a non-profit organization for international journalists in Indonesia.
The group has more than 250 members and 50 foreign media organization[1] Its members include foreign journalists, Indonesi ...
, Jonan blamed the low train fares as a cause for the railway system's poor service and crowdedness.
Within 5 years, he overturned public perception of the failing Indonesian rail transportation system. The company was able to increase passenger ridership by 50% in 2014 compared to when Jonan took up the role in 2009. Freight loads have also doubled to nearly 30 million tons per year.
Transport minister
On 26 October 2014, the newly-elected Indonesian President
Joko Widodo named him as the 37th Minister of Transportation. Within this capacity, Jonan had wanted to ban ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Grab (company), Grab in 2015 citing existing regulations, but he was overridden by Widodo. In 2016, he again threatened a ban for the apps as they had not formally registered as taxi operators with the government.
Following the crash of
Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501
Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 was a scheduled international passenger flight operated by Indonesia AirAsia from Surabaya, Java, Indonesia, to Singapore. On 28 December 2014, the Airbus A320 flying the route crashed into the Java Sea, killing ...
in 2014, Jonan alleged that budget airlines in Indonesia had been endangering passenger safety due to cost-cutting measures.
Energy and Mineral Resources minister
On 27 July 2016, President Joko Widodo removed Jonan from his post in a cabinet reshuffle. In response to the reshuffle, Ignasius Jonan, with a flat face, said, "I will come back". On 14 October 2016 the president appointed Ignasius Jonan again, but now as Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources with Arcandra Tahar as his deputy.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jonan, Ignasius
1963 births
Indonesian politicians of Chinese descent
Indonesian Roman Catholics
Living people
Airlangga University alumni
The Fletcher School at Tufts University alumni
Government ministers of Indonesia
Energy ministers
Working Cabinet (Joko Widodo)
Indonesian Christians
Transport ministers of Indonesia