Danantara to Turn Danareksa into an Industrial Estate Operator

KABARBURSA.COM — Danantara and the State-Owned Enterprises Agency (BP BUMN) are changing the business direction of PT Danareksa (Persero). The state-owned company is projected to become an integrated industrial estate operator, tasked with attracting investment, boosting national industrial growth and creating jobs.

The change marks a shift in Danareksa’s focus. The company will no longer simply manage industrial estate facilities, but is being directed to build a broader business ecosystem. This will include special economic zones (SEZs) and the development of smart cities.

Dony Oskaria, head of BP BUMN and chief operating officer of Danantara, said Danareksa would focus its business on managing industrial estates. The estates are expected to grow into integrated environments that support economic activity.

“It will focus solely on becoming an industrial estate operator. The expectation is that SEZs and industrial estates will truly become cities, with smart cities within them,” Dony said on Wednesday, 28 October 2026.

Danareksa’s transformation is part of the consolidation and streamlining of state-owned enterprises’ business structures throughout 2026. The restructuring is expected to give the company a more focused business model while clarifying its role in industrial estate development.

Under this approach, industrial estates must do more than provide land and facilities for companies. Danareksa is also expected to build an ecosystem that supports business activity, connects different industrial needs and drives economic growth in surrounding areas.

One major task in the transformation is consolidating 12 industrial estates in the state-owned enterprise portfolio. Five of them are said to be ready to enter the transaction stage.

The consolidation will provide a basis for Danareksa to design a new business model, map revenue sources and determine its industrial estate development strategy. Restructuring the portfolio is also expected to help the company set investment and asset-management priorities.

Dony is targeting completion of the consolidation and streamlining process during 2026. Danareksa is expected to begin reorganising its business model in 2027.

The company has also been asked to complete its industrial estate development roadmap promptly. The document will guide the direction of development, business strategy and work priorities in the next phase.

Dony considers industrial estates important to making Indonesia more attractive to investors. Their development therefore needs to be extensive, so that they can meet business needs while expanding opportunities for employment.

“Industrial estates will be one of the factors supporting efforts to attract investors to Indonesia and create jobs, so this development must be carried out on a massive scale,” Dony said.

State-owned industrial estates tasked with advancing national investment

Alongside this change in business model, Danareksa has a mandate that extends beyond simply pursuing company growth. State-owned industrial estates are expected to help strengthen Indonesia’s appeal to investors and accelerate domestic industrial development.

Dony said state-owned industrial estates have different responsibilities from private ones. In addition to conducting business, state-owned companies must also serve the national interest, particularly by attracting investment and creating jobs.

“Remember, our industrial estates are not the same as private industrial estates. We also have a state duty to fulfil: bringing as much investment as possible into Indonesia and creating jobs,” Dony said.

This mandate means Danareksa’s transformation cannot be judged solely by the number of estates it manages or by an increase in company revenue. Its ability to attract investors, stimulate industrial activity and create jobs is also central to the intended outcome.

Through the consolidation of 12 industrial estates and the development of a new business model, BP BUMN and Danantara are seeking to establish a more integrated and competitive management system. The effectiveness of the initiative will depend on implementation of the roadmap, clarity over the business model and the estates’ ability to attract tangible investment.

Danareksa’s transformation is also part of the Government’s effort to strengthen the role of state-owned enterprises in national industrial development. The challenge is to ensure that asset restructuring and changes to the business structure lead to increased economic activity and new job opportunities, rather than remaining an internal reorganisation exercise.

How effective will Danareksa’s consolidation be in attracting investment?

Consolidating industrial estates under PT Danareksa (Persero) presents challenges that cannot be resolved through business restructuring alone. Land occupancy, investment realised by tenant companies and employment are among the indicators needed to assess the effectiveness of state-owned industrial estate management.

Company data show that land utilisation at industrial estates needs to be examined on a case-by-case basis. According to the official profile of PT Kawasan Industri Medan (KIM), one of the companies in Danareksa’s ecosystem, the 1,000-hectare estate has an occupancy rate of 72 per cent. This means the reported occupancy has not reached the estate’s full area. However, the figure does not necessarily mean the remaining land is immediately available for sale or use, as its readiness and availability would need to be assessed further.

The figure highlights the importance of distinguishing between the total area under management and land that is actually being used. In industrial estate development, available land is not necessarily ready for investors. Infrastructure readiness, logistics access, utilities and prospective tenants’ needs all affect an operator’s ability to turn assets into economic activity.

Another issue is measuring the estates’ capacity to attract capital. National investment data can provide initial context, although it is not sufficient to show the performance of state-owned industrial estates specifically.

According to a report by the Ministry of Investment and Downstreaming/Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), investment realisation in Indonesia reached Rp1,714.2 trillion in 2024, up 20.8 per cent on the previous year. The investment supported 2,456,130 jobs.

The scale of national investment indicates the overall level of investment activity in Indonesia. However, the figure covers a range of sectors and business locations, so it does not show how much investment flowed through state-owned industrial estates, including those managed by Danareksa.

To provide a more measurable picture, BKPM has published a 2025 dataset on the investment value of industrial companies and industrial estate companies, covering realised foreign and domestic investment. The dataset is provisional and needs further analysis to identify each estate’s contribution and distinguish investment by estate operators from that of tenant companies.

That distinction matters because investment by an estate operator and investment by its tenants represent different economic activities. An operator’s investment may include the construction of estate infrastructure, while tenant investment covers the capital companies put into their production activities.

Employment is another indicator of the economic benefits generated by industrial estates. In an official announcement in May 2026, Danareksa said that seven industrial estates under its management covered a total of 7,800 hectares, housed around 1,600 tenants from 25 countries and employed 300,000 people.

These figures give an indication of the scale of economic activity connected to the industrial estates in Danareksa’s portfolio. However, assessing performance trends requires comparable data from previous years. Without information on changes in the number of tenants, investment and employment, cumulative figures alone are not enough to show whether estate productivity has improved.

The Ministry of Industry also provides a 2024 dataset on employment at industrial estates. This can serve as a basis for examining employment trends, particularly if estate-level figures can be matched with investment and land-use data.

Analysis of the data needs to distinguish between workers directly employed by estate operators and those working for tenant companies. Tenant employment better reflects production activity within an estate, while the operator’s employee count indicates the scale of the organisation running the industrial estate business.

If investment and employment data are available consistently over several years, they can be used to assess whether capital growth is accompanied by an increase in job opportunities. The relationship is not always direct, however, since employment levels are also influenced by the type of industry, production technology and degree of automation.

Danareksa’s industrial estate consolidation should therefore be assessed using indicators that can be compared over time. Occupancy rates, realised tenant investment, the number of active companies and employment trends can all help measure the results of the business restructuring.

Available data provide an initial picture of the scale of the assets and activity across the industrial estates. A more comprehensive assessment will require historical data for each estate as well as comparisons with private operators. This information is needed to evaluate Danareksa’s new business model based on operational performance and its contribution to economic activity, rather than solely on the size of the portfolio it manages.