Bridging local, German ventures
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang, Banten
Jochen Sautter is a key figure in the establishment of industrial and trade relations between German small and medium enterprises and their Indonesian counterparts. Sautter, 36, accepted his somewhat difficult assignment as president director of the German Center Indonesia. The center was set up by the German government's development bank, the L-Bank, which is based in Beden Wuttenberg, Germany, Sautter.
Since the inauguration of the center in February 1998, some 100 German companies -- thanks to Sautter's hard work -- have invested in Indonesia, in various fields such as: automotive, consulting services, courses and training, electronics, information technology, trade and industry totaling some US$532 million.
"The German Center is a project intended to span the next 100 years and my job in Indonesia is to ensure that it is able to serve as a place where one-stop services and other facilities will be made available to German companies seeking access and business opportunities in Indonesia," he told The Jakarta Post.
He said the rapid increase in the number of German businesses in Indonesia during the past five years is closely linked with IT business, and is a unique network known as the Media Center at the German Center, which is located in Bumi Serpong Damai housing complex in Serpong, Tangerang.
The Media Center -- which is Sautter's brainchild -- is a control center for a computerized system of ATM machines now found in almost every bank in Jakarta.
Since the inauguration of the German Center Indonesia, which was attended by president B.J. Habibie, in February 1998, Sautter has been attending to the needs of German businessmen wishing to invest and run businesses in Indonesia.
His job description includes persuading, providing information about business opportunities and legislation, licensing processing, arranging meeting points and providing accommodation.
The recent security disturbances such as bomb explosions, which scare off not only potential investors and tourists, have made his job even more difficult.
"It has been a Herculian task to persuade more German companies to invest and do business in Indonesia," said Sautter, who was appointed president director of the German Center at the age of 30.
The German Center Indonesia is the seventh of its kind in the world. Other such centers are found in Moscow, Yokohama, Mexico City, Singapore, Shanghai and Beijing.
Sautter was born in Reutlingen, some 50 km south of Stuttgart, where he lived until he finished secondary school. He then attended the University of Manheim, a top university for business administration in Europe.
He studied marketing, management and psychology. While still at university, he set up a student consulting company, which he abandoned after securing a job at the Eureka Bank in San Francisco, the United States.
After working for the Eureka Bank for a year, he returned to Germany to work in real estate with the government's development bank before being offered the job at the German Center.
He also initiated the establishment of Swiss-German University in Serpong so that a synergy between education and industry will be integrated under the German Center.
Sautter has made up his mind to settle in Indonesia. He spends his spare time studying bahasa Indonesia, which he speaks quite fluently.
He married an Indonesian woman, Lucia, 37, in July last year and they are expecting a child. Lucia is pursuing her marketing studies in California.
Sautter is also very interested in conservation. His concern about the dwindling orangutan population in Kalimantan has prompted him to team up with PT Interkemas FlexiPack for fund- raising.
They collect funds by way of selling orangutan figurines made by artist Dimas Yulianto. These figurines are on display in various sizes in the lobby of the four-story German Center.