Bakrie appointed to resilience council

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)