Bakrie appointed to resilience council

JAKARTA (JP): The government has appointed the chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), Aburizal Bakrie, to replace noted businessman Anthony Salim as the secretary-general of the Economic and Monetary Resilience Council.

Aburizal, known as Ical, confirmed his appointment to reporters yesterday, but said the presidential decree for it had yet to be issued.

Former president Soeharto appointed Anthony Salim, the son of giant Salim Group founder Lim Sioe Liong, in March replacing his senior economic advisor Widjojo Nitisastro, who moved up to the council's vice chairman's seat.

Soeharto established and was the chairman of the council, which was set up to oversee the implementation of the country's economic reform program.

Ical said President B.J. Habibie appointed him in his capacity as the chairman of Kadin. Ical, also the chairman of the diversified Bakrie Group, did not explain the reason behind the appointment.

The Salim Group is the largest business conglomerate in the country, with interests ranging from agroindustry to the banking sector.

Its giant bank, Bank Central Asia, was taken over by the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency Thursday, following massive withdrawals that dried up its reserves.

The group is widely known to have received business privileges from the government during the 32 years of the Soeharto regime which ended May 21. (das)