DEN Applauds Pertamina's Third-Place Ranking in Fortune Southeast Asia 500

Jakarta - National Energy Council (DEN) member Muhammad Kholid Syeirazi has positively assessed Pertamina’s inclusion in the Fortune Southeast Asia 500 list of the region’s largest companies. With revenues reaching 70.89 billion US dollars and a profit of 3.35 billion US dollars, up 7.2 percent from the previous year, Pertamina placed third in the Fortune Southeast Asia 500, behind Singapore-based trading firm Trafigura Group and Thai energy giant PTT. According to Kholid, Pertamina’s achievement demonstrates the improving competitiveness of Indonesian state-owned enterprises on a regional scale and shows that the company’s performance is more stable amid global and economic challenges. “This shows increasingly better competitiveness. Because a company of Pertamina’s class must indeed be there and that is important,” Kholid said in a statement in Jakarta on Wednesday. He stated that the recognition acknowledges Pertamina as a company with considerable leverage, meaning the state-owned energy firm has entered the list of 500 companies with significant capital strength and very large revenues, especially when compared to fellow oil and gas companies, with Pertamina positioned just below energy giant PTT. “And we are certainly proud that one of our national companies has become a top-tier company in Southeast Asia. What does that mean? Yes, it keeps growing, right?” he added. Kholid emphasised that the award also shows Pertamina’s management has the ability to maintain a balance between two pendulums: as a corporation required to generate profit, and on the other hand, as the executor of government assignments to maintain energy security. “If, for example, the assignment is too heavily weighted, the profit-seeking function declines. Meanwhile, if the orientation is towards profit-seeking, the assignment naturally diminishes somewhat. I think this balance is the nature of a state-owned enterprise, in this case Pertamina,” he said. He therefore agreed that Pertamina’s success demonstrates that this strategic state-owned enterprise can become a motor for the national economy, create added value for the country, and simultaneously strengthen Indonesia’s position on the Southeast Asian economic map. He said Pertamina is currently performing its important role well as the backbone of national energy security. “Pertamina’s important role in maintaining the security of energy supply, such as providing fuel, LPG, and diesel, is one of the backbones of national energy security and must be further enhanced,” he stated. Pertamina, he continued, is also capable of supplying the energy needs of the community, including for industry and economic growth, and plays an important role in maintaining energy reliability in the coming years. Nevertheless, Kholid reminded of the need to improve professionalism, management capacity, and Pertamina’s institutional framework in the future to enhance competitiveness at the global level. “Thus, it is hoped that Pertamina can move up a class or perform even better in the future,” he added.