William Soeryadjaya named JITF chairman
JAKARTA (JP): Businessman William Soeryadjaya was officially installed as the new chairman of PT Jakarta International Trade Fair (JITF) during the Japanese government-city administration joint venture company's shareholders meeting here on Thursday.
William, who is also tipped to become president commissioner of the company, replaced Governor Sutiyoso in the position.
"Law No. 22/1999 on Regional Administration, which took effect in May this year, regulates that all governors must relinquish their posts at companies owned by their respective provincial administrations," Noegroho Haditomo, the company's general affairs manager, said after the meeting.
Sutiyoso was not present at the meeting.
Article 48 of the law prohibits regional administration heads, including governors, from being actively involved in companies in their respective regions owned by private organizations, the state or foundations.
Since 1992, two governors have chaired the company: Surjadi Soedirdja from 1992 to 1997 and Sutiyoso from 1997 to 1999.
William, a former owner of the country's largest car producer, PT Astra International, is an old acquaintance of President Abdurrahman Wahid.
The 77-year-old businessman, through Bank Summa, a subsidiary of the Summa Group, established a cooperation with the country's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), in the early 1990s. Abdurrahman was the chairman of NU at the time.
The cooperation was in the form of Bank Perkreditan Rakyat Nusumma, a financial organization specializing in extending loans to small-sized businesses.
The collapse of Bank Summa in 1992 forced William to step down from Astra. He sold his shares in the company to pay the bad debts of the bank, which was owned by his son Edward Seky Soeryadjaya.
A member of NU's board of executives, Musthafa Zuhad Mughni, also sits on JITF's board of commissioners.
William denied Abdurrahman was involved in his and Musthafa's appointment to JITF.
"There is nothing to do with him (Abdurrahman). He is my old friend," William told reporters after the shareholders meeting. "I haven't met with him since he was elected President."
Other JITF board members include Edward Soeryadjaya and B. Soeryantoro Soeryo.
Those attending the meeting also witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Singapore-based L&M Group Investment Ltd. and PT Griya Nusantara Pratama.
The two construction companies will cooperate to build a high- tech industrial park, or "cyber city", on 44 hectares of land located on the grounds of the former Kemayoran Airport.
The site is now used to host the Jakarta Trade Fair, an annual event organized by JITF, which will manage the industrial park when it is completed. (asa)