Salim in driving seat at Indofood

Salim in driving seat at Indofood

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta

Anthoni Salim took control of the management of giant food
producer PT Indofood Sukses Makmur on Friday, marking the bold
return of the seriously rich Salim family, which once had
dominated many sectors of the country's economy for decades.

Anthoni, the son of tycoon Sudono Salim and the heir to the
Salim Group business empire, was chosen by the firm's
shareholders to replace Eva Riyanti Hutapea, who tendered her
resignation last December amid reports of growing disagreement
with the Salim family.

In a press conference after the firm's annual shareholders
meeting on Friday, Anthoni said he took over the leadership of
the firm primarily to counter increasingly stiff competition in
the industry.

"Every company needs to revitalize itself in order to face
tougher competition in the market ... Indofood is a huge concern
with around 50,000 employees. In order to survive, we need to be
more focused on our business," said Anthoni.

The business was established by the Salim family in 1990. The
family still owns 52 percent of the firm through Hong Kong-based
First Pacific Co.

The shareholders meeting turned poignant when Eva burst into
tears as she left the meeting room and bid farewell to her staff
and colleagues.

"Eva has made her own choice of carreer, and we regret her
decision to resign. We will really miss her," Anthoni said.

Media reports have speculated that Eva's resignation was due
to increasing acrimony and disagreement over company policy
between her and Anthoni, as well as other Salim family members,
including Franciscus Welirang, the son-in-law of Sudono and the
Indofood director responsible for the company's Bogasari Flour
Mills division.

Eva was credited with bringing Indofood back to profit,
reducing the company's huge dollar-denominated debt, while at the
same time erasing the company's negative image as a business
closely connected with the regime of president Soeharto. Soedono
Salim was known as one of Soeharto's closest associates.

Following the fall of Soeharto in 1998, the family lost many
of its businesses, but retained ownership of some of its most
profitable ones, including Indofood. Unlike during the Soeharto
years, they avoided publicity, and Anthoni's appearance on
Thursday could well be his first before the press since
Soeharto's fall.

A legislator said that Anthoni's decision to take the helm of
Indofood signaled that the family once again felt comfortable
about living in Indonesia as the government had declared the
family free of all debts resulting from its past infringements of
banking regulations.

"The Salim family now feels more comfortable as they don't
have any legal problems here anymore. This is the main reason why
they have decided to come out from their hiding places," said
legislator Hakam Naja.

Hakam, who is from the National Mandate Party (PAN), also said
that Anthoni's return also signaled that the family was
comfortable with Indonesia's current crop of politicians, adding
that some top politicians now contesting the presidential
election had recently attended the birthday party of Sudono Salim
in Singapore.

Anthoni dismissed speculation that it was the Salim Group's
debt-free status that had motivated him to take over Indofood's
leadership.

"Salim Group businesses have always been here and have always
expanded. We will not focus our activities anywhere else... And I
have always been out in front, not hiding behind a screen," he
said.