Widjojo Nitisastro

Widjojo Nitisastro was an Indonesian statesman and one of the country's most influential economists. He held ministerial positions under Presidents Sukarno and Suharto intermittently between 1950 and 1983. During his career in government, Widjojo served as Minister of Industry and Trade, Minister of Finance, and the Minister of Research in five different cabinets. He was also the Dean of the Faculty of Economics at the University of Indonesia. Born into a Javanese family, he studied economics at the Netherlands School of Economics in Rotterdam in the Netherlands and remained there throughout World War II. Returning to Indonesia after the war, he was assigned to the country's diplomatic mission in the United States, where he sought to raise funds and garner international attention in the struggle against Dutch colonialism. After the handover of sovereignty as a result of the 1949 Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference, in which he took part, he joined the Socialist Party and became Minister for Trade and Industry in the Natsir Cabinet. He implemented the protectionist Benteng program, and developed an economic plan which aimed for national industrialization. Sumitro further served as finance minister in the cabinets of Prime Ministers Wilopo and Burhanuddin Harahap during the Sukarno era. During the 1950s, Sumitro favoured foreign investment, an unpopular position at that time which brought him into conflict with Nationalists and Communists. Due to political differences and allegations of corruption, Sumitro fled Jakarta and joined the insurrectionary Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia in the late 1950s. Considered a leader of the movement, he operated from abroad, liaising with Western foreign intelligence organizations while seeking funds and international support. He returned to Indonesia after the fall of Sukarno and the rise of Suharto, and became the President Director of Pertamina, the state-owned oil and gas company. He was instrumental in transforming Pertamina into a powerful and profitable corporation, but also faced criticism for its lack of transparency and accountability. He was dismissed from Pertamina in 1976 after a financial scandal that resulted in a debt of US$10.5 billion. He then became the State Minister for Research and was involved in various scientific and technological projects. He also founded Gatra, a weekly news magazine, and became the chairman of the Indonesian Athletics Association. He died in Singapore in 2001 at the age of 83.