Mon, 21 Jan 2002

Bali to open specialist center

Vincent Lingga, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri will open an international center in Bali next month, which will provide mid-career and senior executives in the public and private sectors the skills and knowledge necessary to be effective leaders in an increasingly complex and challenging global environment.

Called The Executive Center for Global Leadership (ECGL), the institute will bring internationally renowned academics, business and government leaders from around the world to conduct world- class professional development programs.

"It will be a unique training center where executives from the public and private sectors can interact with each other, learn from each other's experiences under the guidance of outstanding business and government leaders," noted Tanri Abeng, one of ECGL's founders.

Tanri said ECGL would not simply duplicate what local business schools have been doing and would go further than simply grooming competent managers with high technical skills.

"We aim at training quality leaders, who are both entrepreneurial and managerially competent with a global mindset and high sensitivity to differences in cultures, ethics and human behavior," added Tanri.

The opening ceremony will also feature Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, as the keynote speaker, and Coordinating Minister for Economy Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti, as a luncheon speaker.

He said his two decades of managerial experiences at multinational companies, another six years of directing a national conglomerate and 20 months of working in the public sector as the minister for state enterprises led him to believe that there is an imperative need for a leadership training center like ECGL.

Tanri, who was dubbed the million-dollar manager in the early 1990s due to his impressive managerial track record, seemed unperturbed by the miserable end of his political career that implicated him in the Bank Bali loan scandal.

Even though his investigations by the Attorney General's Office led to nothing, and he was never declared a suspect, his personal integrity is still perceived by many as tainted by his deep involvement in the game of power politics in 1998 and 1999.

He said he did not harbor any political ambitions by launching ECGL other than helping the nation to groom more capable leaders in all sectors.

"Our prolonged economic crisis has made more imperative than ever the need for executives, in both the private and public sectors, to be imbued with the essential elements of leadership and overriding values that enable them, not only to create cohesion and cooperation within an organization, but also to communicate and inspire confidence," he asserted.

Tanri's vision is shared by many other business and government leaders, as can be seen in the list of ECGL founders, including State Secretary Bambang Kesowo, Coordinating Minister for Social Welfare Jusuf Kalla, who is himself a former businessman, Aburizal Bakrie, president of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce, businessman Pontjo Sutowo, Robby Djohan, Henry Leo and Andi Indra Kesuma.

The ECGL Board of Trustees also boasts an impressive list of national and international figures such as Ian Buchanan, vice president and partner of Booz Allen & Hamilton, Tan Sri Dato Seri Jeffrey Cheah Fook Ling, chairman of Malaysian Sunway Holdings Inc., Arthur E. Johnson, vice president of Lockheed Martin Corp., James R. Moffett, chief executive officer of Freeport-McMoRan, Sabam Siagian, former Indonesian ambassador to Australia and currently director of The Jakarta Post and Ben J.M. Verwaayen, vice chairman of Lucent Technologies.

Leading change, efficiency and integrity in government, privatization, corporate governance and managing in a value- adding environment are some of the short-term course programs offered by ECGL for the next three months.

"One of our annual flagship programs is called the Chief Executive Officer forum, which will bring in one outstanding chief of state to an annual brainstorming session with corporate leaders in Bali," Tanri added.

As the programs are being designed and led by lecturers and presenters from famous institutes such as William F. Miller of the Stanford Institute, Henri-Claude de Bettignies of INSEAD, Robert Klitgaard of the Rand Graduate School, Gregory Maassen of the Rotterdam School of Management, James O'Toole of the Aspen Institute, Roger S. Leeds of the John Hopkins University, the course fees do not come cheap.

A three-day program will cost almost US$2,500, including lodging and meals at the ECGL campus in the Bali Handara Mountain Resort, which also offers a golf course.

"Bali's renowned center of culture and natural beauty will be another attraction of the ECGL as it provides inspirational surroundings for course participants to learn, confer, discuss, reflect and think," Tanri added.