Man behind infrastructure summit

Zakki P. Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Gathering nearly 700 investors, domestic and foreign, to attend an international event within just two months in the capital of a country, which lost 110,000 of its citizens and was badly devastated by the earthquake and tsunami on Dec. 26, is definitely a tough task.

But John A. Prasetio managed to pull it off, owing to his experience in multinational firms.

In early December, he was still meeting with Jakarta-based foreign chambers of commerce to get inputs for the lineup of speakers and panelists for the first Indonesian Infrastructure Summit on Jan. 17 and Jan. 18 at Shangri-La Hotel, Central Jakarta.

Two months later, the cochairman of the summit managed to pull it off.

John is among the rare businessmen in the country who understand the implication of trade liberalization, notably in the context of World Trade Organization negotiations and the growing trend of bilateral preferential trade agreements.

He skillfully led the December meeting and occasionally brought up sensitive issues without offending anyone in the meeting of businessmen from various nations.

Leading a meeting of business leaders of various nationalities comes naturally for John, a former managing partner of Arthur Andersen for the Asia Pacific overseeing the consulting firm's operations in 13 countries including Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

"Maybe I am among the few Indonesians who are lucky enough to have international exposure as a leader," he told The Jakarta Post recently.

Born in the Central Java capital of Semarang, and now in his mid 50s, John started his impressive career in the consulting world when he was still an accountancy student at the University of Indonesia. Later, he became a lecturer and pursued further studies in the United States at the Wharton School of Business and in Stanford University.

The 1980 Harvard Business School graduate is the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) vice chairman for international economic cooperation, thus a regular source for reporters seeking the private sector's comments and stance on international trade issues.

He worked in several public accountant firms before eventually establishing his own Prasetio, Utomo & Co., which now partners with Ernst & Young Indonesia, the same year he returned from Harvard.

His firm later partnered with global consulting firm Arthur Andersen, where he eventually became the first Asian to lead Andersen in the Asia Pacific region.

John would often hold meetings with his managing partners through videoconference from his base in Tokyo and Singapore at that time.

Having to oversee such global operations, he built strong relations with top executives of multinational corporations and global institutions.

That was another reason why Kadin entrusted John with the task of chairing the summit.

The event itself is expected to raise up to US$74 billion over the next five year period for various infrastructure projects, focusing on sectors such as power and energy, toll roads, transportation, water and sanitation, ports and airports and telecommunications.

The government will offer 91 infrastructure projects worth at least $22 billion to local and foreign investors in the summit.

Despite all the challenges he has faced in organizing the summit, critics still said the preparation was too short and that the summit should be postponed for another two to three months. His critics also believed that January was a bad time for such a summit to attract global investors.

But the devastating tsunami changed everything, including the summit. With foreign investors booked to fill only half of the limited 500 seats available by late December, the number of participants surged to 1,257 -- dominated by foreigners -- but only 678 would be allowed to attend the by-invitation-only event.

John said the idea of the summit emerged when Kadin presented the private sector's revitalization road map to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono a week after he was sworn in.

The President responded by stating that infrastructure development was a key priority of his economic program to accelerate Indonesia's economic growth and reduce poverty.

Susilo then suggested Kadin help the government to organize the summit.

During the interview, John's mobile phone kept ringing with many callers asking if he could provide additional seats for latecomers.

Although he was very communicative in talking about infrastructure and other economic issues, when asked about his personal life he immediately pulled back.

"What's the point of knowing about my life?" he said smiling, and went on further to explain more about his career.

The only personal side of himself he was ready to expose was his hobby of collecting paintings, including those of the late icon Affandi.

"I can stay in an art gallery for hours. I don't know why I enjoy them so much. But looking at them makes me happy," he said.

The event may run well but the real success will be seen in the future. Nevertheless, for John, his work for the summit is his way of serving the country.

"I have gained a lot from this country, this is one way for me to show my gratitude," he said.