Pandu Sjahrir Reveals PT DSI Has Only One Employee, Able to Recruit Foreign Staff
PT Danantara Sumberdaya Indonesia (DSI), a state-owned export enterprise, currently has only one employee. According to Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of Danantara Investment Management Agency (BPI) Pandu Sjahrir, DSI is currently staffed by Luke Thomas Mahony as its President Director.
Pandu made the statement while outlining the development of DSI, which officially became a state-owned enterprise last Monday. He noted that DSI’s organisational setup is being built in a similar manner to Danantara’s initial formation.
“As a company newly formed last Monday and only officially becoming a state-owned enterprise yesterday, the process has been swift. Currently, there is only one employee, Luke. So, Luke is there. I’m grateful he’s a foreigner, so even though many message him on WhatsApp, he can’t respond to them,” Pandu said at an Investor Daily Round Table in Jakarta on Tuesday, 26 May 2026.
Pandu stated that DSI’s team will be built gradually. He cited Danantara, which started with three employees in February last year and grew to around 450 staff within a year.
“If you recall, Danantara began in February with three staff. By late March and April, it had 30. Now, a year later, it has 450,” Pandu said.
According to Pandu, DSI’s recruitment process will be global, not limited to Indonesia. He noted that commodity trading and international trade financing require highly specialised expertise.
“So in terms of human resources, we recruit globally, not just in Indonesia—it’s a global effort. As I mentioned earlier, there are only 2,000 coal traders worldwide,” Pandu said.
However, he did not rule out recruiting from existing state-owned enterprises. Pandu stressed that DSI’s recruitment would be professional and focused solely on high-quality talent.
“Certainly, we will also try to recruit existing human capital from state-owned enterprises to learn together. For instance, in financing, which is heavily focused on trade financing,” Pandu added.
“For trade financing specifically, most of the talent is not in Indonesia but overseas. We must recruit to transfer knowledge on commodity-related financing,” he concluded.