Rizal Ramli

Rizal Ramli and his parents are from Padang. He was forced to move in with his grandmother Rahmah in Bogor, West Java when he was seven, due to the death of his parents. His father, Ramli, was an assistant district officer. His mother, Rabiah, was a teacher. At the age of three, Ramli was already able to read. And for that, he says, is thankful to his mother who taught and guided him at all times to learn the letters.[4]

Ramli finished high school in Bogor. After graduating, he was accepted into the Institute of Technology Bandung (ITB), where he studied Engineering Physics. He had to work at a printing press in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta for six months to pay for the tuition fees. He also made use of his English skills and worked as a translator to pay his school fees at ITB.[5] At ITB, he was appointed as the President of the Student English Forum (SEF) and then Vice President of the Dewan Mahasiswa (Student Council).[6]

As Vice President of ITB's Student Council in 1977, he was also involved in activism. Ramli and three of his friends were the authors of the "White Book". In the book, he wrote many criticisms against the system of authoritarian rule by the Indonesian government under the Soeharto regime. The White Book also explores the practice of corruption, collusion, and nepotism in the government, particularly by the family of President Suharto. Although the White Book was eventually banned on campus, copies were circulated in Java. The popularity also received media attention at that time. The book was then translated into eight languages by Ben Anderson, a scholar from Cornell University, USA. One of the first critics of Soeharto in Indonesia at that time, Ramli was jailed for six months in 1978.[7]

Ramli continued his education, finishing his Master of Arts in Asian Studies at Sophia University, Japan. He then graduated from Boston University with a Ph.D. degree in economics in 1990.[8]

On his return from the United States, after he finished his doctorate, he founded the ECONIT Advisory Group, an independent economic think-tank, with a few other economists such as Laksamana Sukardi, Arif Arryman, and M. S. Zulkarnaen. Ramli and his team have been very critical of the New Order government's economic policies, particularly those with little emphasis on public and national interests, such as the national car policy, urea-tablet fertilizer, Freeport mining, etc.[9] Ramli, through the ECONIT Advisory Group, published a report titled "1997: The Year of Uncertainty" which predicted the Asian financial crisis. He based his forecast on three points: private sector debt, current account deficit, and the overvalued Rupiah. With a few of his colleagues, he also founded the Indonesia Awakening Commission (Komite Bangkit Indonesia/KBI) and also served as its chairman.[10]

Ramli was appointed as head of the Indonesian Bureau of Logistics (Bulog) by President Abdurrahman Wahid in March 2000.[11] He was the chairman of Bulog for less than a year (15 months) but he was regarded by some as making notable breakthroughs that increased Bulog's economic value in just six months. Some of the important policies implemented by Ramli during this period are:

• Introducing steps to improve Bulog's performance and taking steps to reform it into a more transparent and accountable institution, such as transforming off-budget accounts of Bulog to on-budget ones;
• Significant cost savings and efficiencies in the operation of the agency. As a result, Bulog had a surplus on its account;
• Simplified and consolidated Bulog's accounts from 117 to only nine accounts;
• Undertake restructuring to prepare Bulog for its transition of status towards Perusahaan Umum (Perum); and
• Carry out rotations of Bulog officials by switching the appointments between those posted in 'wet' positions and the ones posted in 'dry' positions.

Another notable policy regarding rice price that Ramli implemented is to increase the direct purchase of rice grains from farmers. The reason being that rice grains are more easily stored and long-lasting than milled rice. This particular policy of direct purchase is to reduce the meddling of middlemen that used to buy the rice grains from farmers and combine them with imported rice and then resell it to Bulog. The increased direct purchase of rice grains benefited the farmers by absorbing the rice grain supply upon harvesting season with an optimum price floor. During times of famine, Bulog's rice grain supply is released and milled in the villages to prevent increases in the prices of rice. Ramli's time as Bulog head is also marked by an import ban of rice by the bureau, while those in the private sector can still import with a tariff. These policies ensured the stable and low price of rice under the Wahid administration.

Ramli was appointed as Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Finance, and Industry on 23 August 2000, replacing Kwik Kian Gie. He then announced his 10 Program for the Acceleration of Economic Recovery (10 Program Percepatan Pemulihan Ekonomi).[12] This program includes policies such as:

• Create stability in the financial sector;
• Improve people's welfare in rural areas to strengthen socio-political stability;
• Spur the development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME);
• Improve farmers' productivity and welfare;
• Prioritize investment-based economic recovery instead of a loan based recovery;
• Drive the increase in exports;
• Perform value-added privatization;
• Carry out economic decentralization while keeping fiscal balance in check;
• Optimize the utilization of natural resources; and
• Speed up the restructuring of the banking sector.

In May 2001, he also made another breakthrough by pushing for the abolition of cross-ownership and cross-management between PT Telkom and PT Indosat.[13] This move was intended to increase competition and push both national telecommunication operators towards becoming full-service operators. Through this innovation, many parties considered that the steps Ramli had taken were the right steps so that they could provide benefits for the country. Ramli also saved the State Electricity Company or Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) from bankruptcy without injecting funds instead by way of asset revaluation, so that the capital from minus 9 trillion rupiahs jumped to a surplus of 119.4 trillion rupiahs.[14]

President Wahid shifted Ramli to his new post as Minister of Finance on 12 June 2001. During the transition period between President Wahid and President Megawati Sukarnoputri, who officially took office on 23 July 2001, Ramli briefly served until 9 August 2001, before being replaced by Boediono.[15]

Ramli has also been trusted several times as President Commissioner of State-Owned Enterprises, among them at PT. Semen Gresik and BNI.[16] While serving as the president commissioner at those state-owned enterprises, Ramli continued to criticize government policies which he disapproves of, both during the reign of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the administration of President Joko Widodo.

In 2007, he contributed in making PT. Semen Gresik one of the seven most profitable SOEs in Indonesia by increasing its net profit from IDR 1.3 trillion to IDR 1.8 trillion.[17]

Not even six months in office, he resigned from the position of President Commissioner of BNI after being officially appointed as Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs in August 2015.

As a result of the Working Cabinet's reshuffle, Ramli was appointed as Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs on 12 August 2015. He confessed that at first he hesitated to accept the offer by President Widodo, for his basic expertise lies in economics.[18]

After a day in office, with the approval of President Widodo, Ramli proposed the name change for his ministry, to the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Resources with two more additional ministries coordinated under it, the Ministry of Public Works and Housing and Ministry of Agriculture. The legal basis for the name change and addition of ministries are still being assessed by the Cabinet Secretariat of the Republic of Indonesia.[19]