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DINNER WITH PROF. MACOMBER – 10 JAN 2012

Location: South Beauty Restaurant

About 35 people showed up during HCI dinner event with Prof John Macomber at South Beauty. We have some guests from real-estate and infrastructure sector such as Pak Hiramsyah S. Thaib (Bakrieland), Pak Budi Lesmana (Triyasa Property), Pak Eddi Santosa (Jakarta MRT), Pak Hyanto Wihadhi (Jababeka), Pak Budianto Liman (Jababeka)

We are truly blessed for 3 reasons:

Reason 1: It is the beginning of the New Year 2012. We all survived 2011, and can start the year with good gathering to socialize amongst alumni, enjoy a good dinner and engage in some discussion around a topic close to all of us: creating value in sustainable cities; about how urbanization and resource constraints create opportunities for private capital.

Reason 2: We have the luxury of a senior HBS lecturer in real-estate as Prof. Macomber to come and speak to us here in Indonesia.

Reason 3: Apart from the nominal cost of the dinner, all John’s expenses are fully paid, as he is here by invitation of another organization. We have some unexpected spillover benefits!

John shared several case studies including how Mexico city pumped so much water, such that the land dropped by 7m. But surprisingly this is not due to a large demand of water, but due to inefficiency of old broken pipes.

He shared how the green concept in building is more influenced by the high density, high verticality, and wide availability of public transit, more than making wind and solar power more widely available. This leads Schneider Electric to think about electricity management, by optimizing demand and supply.

John shared some of the conclusions from his class, to solve the issue of urbanization and resource constraints:

1). Stretch natural resources.  Stretch productivity.

2). Configuration matters a lot. Good urban planning (density) matters a lot.

3). Sharing matters a lot.  Sharing of generator, A/C.  Sharing automobiles.

4) Optimizing matters.  Load balancing

He is optimistic that since these are not about technical questions, but more about negotiations, about incentives, in the end we can solve these issues.

The key of solving it lies in the following quote: “Business can solve big problems in the world, but no big problems can be solved without business (cases)”

John’s address was followed by provoking questions (ala HBS case study classroom), with some lengthy complete answers.

Hope to see all of you in our next events!

  2011 CEO FORUM –  6 DEC 2011

Location: Pacific Place

Event was well attended by CEOs, public and policy makers.

Airlangga Hartarto - Ketua Umum Asosiasi Emiten Indonesia, mentioned that economic integration is key to globalization.  Italy's loan Euro 276 Bn. Spain Euro 185 Bn; loan will rollover.  Money from IMF will only be enough to cover these 2 countries fallout. Analyst projecting 5.7% GDP growth in Indonesia, one of the few countries that is projected to growth next year.  Bahrain (investment grade) has higher interest rate than Indonesia (which is not investment grade).  Indonesia at debt/GDP level of 25% (vs euroland at 100%) is ironic.  The current projection is that 3-6 months ahead, Indonesia will become investment grade.  This will increase FDI more into Indonesia.

Gita Wirjawan - Menteri Perdagangan RI, presented his disposition of how Indonesia fits into the world. He mentioned that problem in countries in Europe (with Debt/GDP of 80-165%), would not be able to be tackled by initiatives are financial engineering in nature, but needing economic growth/reform in nature.

To keep Indonesia growing at 6.5%+ rate, Indonesia needs to keep up the effort in the traditional market (US, European, Asia Pacific).  It has to tap into ME, Africa, South America.  In South Africa there is 1.5 mn Indonesians, and GDP per capita at USD 6000 per capita.  This is opportunity for Indonesian to export goods and services which will appeal to them. Indonesia needs to be smart about where to send our goods and services.

This is followed by panel discussion:  Julian Wilson EU rep in Indonesia; Scot Marciel - US Ambassador to Indonesia; Milan Zavadjil - Senior representatives Jakarta office, IMF

Some brief excerpt from the panel discussions are below:

Opening remarks Scot Marciel - US Ambassador to Indonesia

US went through the worst financial crisis since the great depression. Quick action by US government, allow us to avoid another depression.  A lot of controversial actions was taken; including taking over private enterprise by governments.  The auto sector is performing quite well now.

But it is not a fix for all move.  There are many encouraging signs in the US.  Manufacturing ISM index at 52 in Nov'11 is higher than China's 48 (Anything higher than 50 mena expansion).  Retail sales growth is at +6%

Fiscal deficit at 8% of GDP is manageable (no immediate debt crisis; as US is borrowing at record low US Treasury rates), but there needs to be action to fix this going forward.

There is some frustration level that employment rate is high (10% level).  A lot of manufacturing jobs have gone overseas.  Middle class have suffered flat income in the past 10-20 years.

But we are confident about the future:

1) Corporate earnings are good

2) Consumers are paying down debt

3) Stepping up efforts to promote trade.  

Opening remarks by Julian Wilson EU rep in Indonesia

The EU's challenge:

- What is the EU doing to resolve the problem?

- How will our situation affect Indonesia?

- How can we work better together in this global situation?

Germany 20%, France 16%, UK 14% of EU GDP.  Portugal + Greece is 3%.  Italy is 13% GDP.  The countries with major EU GDP has debt profile similar to the US.  The ones with high debt profile relatively has much smaller proportion of EU GDP.  We need to keep perspective of this.

On top of fiscal austerity plan, Europe is doing REAL reform in:

- Increase flexibility (labor, law, services)

- Boost productive sector investment (Euro 50 Bn investment in R&D and Infrastructure)

- Opening up to the world economy (not to move to protectionism)

EU is Indonesia's second largest partner after US, and yet the EU imports 86% from the other Asian members.  Indonesia has a lot of room to grow here.

EU is Indonesia's largest FDI source after Singapore, but this is ONLY 1.6% of total EU FDI to Asia.  There is a lot of opportunity to increase this.

We need to seriously consider the trade issue to resolve conflicts and realize the opportunities.

DISCUSSION WITH PROF. NOURIEL ROUBINI – 24 OCT 2011

Location: BKPM 


Pak Gita Wirjawan and Pak John Prasetio have graciously offered 30 spots for HCI members for the discussion with Prof Nouriel Roubini  on current global economic situation in BKPM

People call Prof Roubini as Dr.Doom; but he prefers to be called Dr Realist. Served as senior economist for International Affairs at US Treasury Department. Roubini has accurately predicted the Lehman Brothers default.  

It was Prof. Roubini’s first trip to Indonesia, and he noted that Indonesia very important economy to the world. He sees that there are positive developments in the economy:

1) Rise of the emerging market economies.  A greater of global GDP is made up of emerging markets.

2) Balance sheet of corporations in emerging/developed market is strong.  Massive build up of treasury reserve.

3) Openness to trade and globalization

4) Improvement in human capital (education), innovation, research and development, which improve productivity

He also saw some downside risks:

1) China could have a hard landing, because of over-reliance on export orientation. Increase in NPL, as many of these projects are not economically feasible. Large government debt.  80% of GDP is government debt (not the official 17%, as you need to add all the provincial government debt)

2) Severe financial crisis in the US; there is a recovery, but anemic, sub-par; more like a U-shaped recovery (instead of a V-shaped). Difficulties in US household.  Provincial balance sheet issues. If there are issues in the US, even strong and resilient emerging markets, will be impacted.

3) Germany, France and UK are heading for a downturn.  Growing of less than 1%.  

4) Risk of backlash against globalization.  Need to make sure that Globalization is beneficial for all, with the right structure etc.

5) A disorderly unwinding.  Financial shock can be severe; can be as large of a shock similar to the Lehman Brothers situation.  If Eurozone issue cause some member countries to default, and spread the contagion.  The problem in Eurozone is not short-term.  Have a fiscal and large budget deficit.  NPL in banks' balance sheets.  Liquidity crisis, as well as competitiveness crisis (Euro currency becoming strong).  Potential growth is slowing because of demographic transitioning to older people; and the productivity has been falling.  These are not problems that can be fixed quickly.  

His final conclusion, despite his reputation for being Dr. Gloom is not too gloomy after all:

There will be issues coming from US, Europe and even China, but there will be potential for emerging market like Indonesia to grow higher, with sound economics politics, and resilient private sector.  Roubini says in closing: "I am very OPTIMISTIC about this country."

The presentation is closed by some Q&A sessions with questions by the like of Pak Emil Salim, and Fauzi Ichsan.

JOINT BUKA PUASA BERSAMA – 9 AUG 2011

Location: Ritz Carlton

Schools attending: Harvard, MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley, University of Chicago

“Applications of Biological Research in Renewable Energy Sources and Medical Products”

Professor Shuguang Zhang, MIT, USA

Date: Tuesday August 9, 2011

Time: 3:00 – 5:00 PM

Venue; @america, Pacific Place 3rd floor, Sudirman CBD, Jakarta

Professor Shuguang Zhang is the head Laboratory of Molecular Design, Center for Bits & Atoms at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. He received his B.S. from Sichuan University, China and Ph.D. from University of California at Santa Barbara, USA. He was an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow (1988-1991) and Whitaker Foundation Investigator (1998-2002) at MIT. He has received numerous awards throughout the world such as R&D100 award in 2004 and Wilhelm Exner Medal of Austria in 2006. He has published over 150 scientific papers, has 9 issued patents and 19 pending patent applications. He has founded 3 biotech startups, one of which is scheduled for IPO in 2011.

  LUNCH WITH PROF. KLITGAARD – 5 JULY 2011  

Event: Social House, Grand Indonesia

 

The discussion at lunch with Prof Klitgaard is certainly atypical. The seating arrangement on one long table allowed for a very intimate setting, with almost continuous questions and answers throughout the 2 hours lunch. The mix of guests from the public and private sector as well as the media allows for interesting exchanges. Not to mention that the topic of discussion is “Curbing Corruption Amidst promoting Business and Economic Growth: Learning from the World’s Best Practices” surely garnered many pros and cons.

Discussion ranges from the “benefit/effectiveness” of corruption, to how to eliminate corruption (both in public and private sector), to is there an “optimal” amount of corruption? Many of the discussions were simply off-the-records. There were significant amount of sharing of participants; Wijayanto, Managing Director of Paramadina Public Policy Institute focused on the topic of Corruption and Education; Karuna Murdaya shared his view on FCPA (Foreign Corrupt Practice Act); Ibrahim Hasan shared a case study on the Hong Kong Police reform; Justin Doeble shared his view on freedom of press in Indonesia. Prof. Klitgaard shared many insights from his consulting and research work that took him to more than 30 countries! We thank Ancora Foundation, Indonesia Setara and Paramadina Institute for the opportunity to meet and speak with Prof Klitgaard. The participants seemed to thoroughly enjoy the discussion, and we certainly look forward to seeing you in future events!

 

 HCI & ALUMNAS EVENT- NONO MAKARIM TALKS - 30 JUNE 2011 

Venue: @america 


[event summary contributed by Hasan Soedjono, President Alumnas] 

Yesterday evening we witnessed yet another successful joint gathering organized by the US Embassy, Harvard Club of Indonesia and ALUMNAS.

Success as measured by:

  • Attendance was around 150.
  • I received several private emails that expressed gratitude for the speeches.
  • The presentations went slightly over time, although we started on time.
  • Both main presentations, Even at the closing time of @america, many of us were still networking, and they had to ask us to leave (VBG).

Our thanks goes to the US Embassy (for providing the venue and the high tech gadgetry) and Harvard Club of Indonesia (for providing the engaging speeches and complimentary snacks and refreshments).  A special thanks to Kurie Suditomo of USINDO for taking on the task of MC and Moderator.   Special thanks also to Angela Gjertson of the US Embassy and Andina Swiny of @america.  Last but not least, thanks to my good friend Nono Makarim for his captivating lecture.

  GLOBAL NETWORKING NIGHT - 21 JUNE 2011 


About 30+ of our members showed up in the fifth Global Networking Night at Tin Pan Alley. There were over 2,500 alumni and guests who registered for events around the world in 27 cities at the fourth GNN event last year. Alumni and students from around the world got together to connect with each other, discuss careers, and take advantage of the amazing Harvard network.

Event participants are mixed from the veteran with the likes of Pak Hasan Soedjono, Pak Rachmat Kartadjoemena, Pak Bimo, and Ibu Nona Utomo, to newly graduated students, with the likes of Tiza Mafira and Abhay Saboo. This is also the first HCI event attended by newly incoming students Emmeline Widjaja (HLS) and Izhari Aritonang (HKS). We wish them all the best in their studies, starting in the next few months!

Conversation varied widely, from Singapore Ambassador, Ashok Kumar Mirpuri giving some interesting insight into Indonesia’s economic development and how this ties with Singapore’s development, to Pak Anak Agung Gede Agung giving some fresh view of how Indonesia should develop other areas of tourism, and not just (potentially detrimental) concentrated development on Bali. Almost all HCI Board of Directors was present to make the event merrier. Hope to see more of our members in future HCI events!

NEW STUDENT & HCI STUDENT PLEDGE  - MAY 31 2011

About 35 people showed up during HCI gathering today at Social House.  There needs to be no reason to have a gathering other than some GOOD Harvard Alumni company and FREE finger foods and drinks. But tonight we have 3 GOOD reasons:

Reason 1: To welcome and congratulate the New Incoming Students to Harvard this coming Fall 2011.  We are grateful that they can come and join us tonight.  We introduced the new students one-by-one and they were not shy to raise their hands and made themselves known to everyone.   The new students who were present tonight were: Dian Kusuma (SPH), Ferry Unardi (HBS), Brigitta Aryanti (HKS), Azalea Ayuningtyas (SPH) and Bara Hasibuan (HKS)

Reason 2: To welcome and introduce the students and researchers involved in the Harvard Kennedy School Program for Indonesia. Benny Subianto, as the senior consultant Senior consultant to HKS program Indonesia was present, alongside Justin Brandon and Nick Hornig.

Reason 3:  To launch the HCI Student Pledge.  Dian Kusuma, Phd candidate at the Harvard School of Public Health gave a rousing speech about his dream, passion and appreciation.  You can read more of his story in the HCI student pledge brochure enclosed.  The HCI student pledge is  a moral commitment to give, not a legal contract, to those in need.  This is mainly focused for admitted students whose area of studies in Harvard, are not able to obtain student loan easily (for example public service as opposed to business).  It does not involve pooling of money. The drawdown will be as needed basis and the contributor will be asked to send money once there is a need.   The transfer rate therefore is 100% directly to the student-in-need.  A meeting between donor and recipient can also be arranged to understand the students’ needs better.   Please read more about the HCI student pledge in file enclosed.  Or you can visit http://clubs.harvard.edu/university/hcindonesia at the GET INVOLVED tab. As of May 30th 2011, we have 13 active pledges, with total of USD 11,000.  We will update and publish the active pledges after tonight’s event in the next few days.  Current total need is USD 17,000. We will be sending more details in the next few days (including additional description of admitted student in needs)

Thank you for all your participation in tonight’s event and the HCI student pledge.  We look forward to seeing you in future events!

Latest HCI Student Pledge Status

We are in the midst of finalizing MOU with recipient of the pledge to: (1) Pledge back the same amount whenever possible and (2) Contribute back to Indonesia however possible

 2 MARCH 2011: LUNCH WITH PAK GITA WIRJAWAN  

Venue: Ritz Carlton, Pacific Place



It is refreshing to see a government official, like Pak Gita Wirjawan, who is willing to go door-to-door to get 16 Ministers’ signatures to pass the “ONE-STOP-SHOP” investment policy & process approved in 2 months. And yet this is the type of practical statesmanship that we need in Indonesia to move the country forward.

The lunch event with Pak Gita Wirjawan, Chairman of BKPM was attended by about 50 people.  Pak Gita talked about returning Indonesia to its former glory thousands of years ago when it built the largest temple in the world, Candi Borobudur.  He talked about how well known economist like Jim O’Neill, who coined the terms BRIC (Brazil Russia India and China) at one time still has the perception that Indonesia’s GDP will increase only by US 500 Bn in 10 years (from its current USD 720 Bn).  Pak Gita reasons that even at 6% GDP growth over the next 10 years, Indonesia will be a USD 2 Tn GDP country.  He said, it is misperception like this that we need to correct, and we all have our role to play. 

Investors need to look at the potential of Indonesia, not 6 months down the road, but 5-10 years down the road.  Our electricity consumption is a mere 565 kwh/capita per year compared to 2200 kwh/capita per year of China.  Our steel consumption is 30 kg per capita per year compared to 1200 kg per capita per year in Korea.  Indonesia has a huge potential, and will be even more recognized if it moves ahead in receiving upgrade to investment grade rating from the rating agency.

Pak Gita mentioned that at around USD 6,000 per capita per year, Indonesia will become a more stable democracy than it is today (current Indonesian GDP per capita at USD 3,000).  And to move towards this we need more education. Indonesia needs to use the education budget USD 25 Bn/year effectively (this is already 20% of total state budget).  This level is almost on par with developing countries and the OECD. However, Indonesia’s spending level is still low compared to its neighbors.  He closes by saying we need to think big, act small and act now…

The speech was followed by an interactive Q&A sessions, which garner more questions than there was time.  Pak Gita graciously answered questions ranging from BKPM operating model, to tax, political and educational challenges…

During the lunch event, Atria Rai, CEO of Ancora Foundation (www.ancorafoundation.com) also provided us with a brief description of the Foundation.

The event is closed by giving a small token of appreciation to Pak Gita, as well as recognizing the Harvard and Stanford Alumni who have agreed to become “coaches” for potential students.  If you would like to participate please email George Hendrata, HCI President (george.hendrata@gmail.com), and Junaidi Wong, HCI Director of University Relations (junaidi@principiamanagement.com)

We thank the following volunteers below and would WELCOME more volunteers!

Volunteers from Harvard: George Hendrata, Daniel Budiman, Lily Surya, Rudy Setyopurnomo, Petrus Gunadi, Ray Pulungan, Ludi Mahadi, Walter North, Anne Colin, Matthew Busch

Volunteers from Stanford: Iwan Tantra, Melinda Wiria, Antony Wangsanata, 

Willy Wiyatno

18 JANUARY 2011: HAPPY HOUR WITH HKSIP 

Venue: Paulaner, Grand Indonesia

About 35+ HCI members and guests showed up in our Happy Hour session at Paulaner today with Prof. Jay Rosengard, Prof. Jose Antonio (Tony) Gomez-Ibanez and HKSIP research grantees. We thank Betsy Osborn (HKSIP Director) for initiating the idea for this event, and Junaidi (HCI Director of University Relations) & Ray Pulungan (HCI Director for Program and Activities) for making the superb arrangement.

The guests formed “islands” of interactions, covering topics from evolution of finance in Indonesia to education in the rural areas to transportation strategy for urban areas!  We are glad that quite a few guests from MIT, Stanford, Berkeley were able to join us.

Delicious finger food was served with Paulaner signature beers!

We also took the opportunity to distribute some of the HCI Merapi notebook calendar for memorabilia for the guests.  We still have some more notebooks available if you would like to donate (email will follow).

Hope you will be able to join us in future events!

 30 NOVEMBER 2010: LUNCHEON WITH CHAIRUL TANJUNG 

Venue: Grand Hyatt

On the last day of November, members of Harvard Club Indonesia attended a luncheon at the Grand Hyatt Indonesia to mark the official launch of Crowe Horwath, a large global  accounting and consulting firm, in Indonesia. As one of the founding partners, prominent Indonesian Harvard alumnus, John Prasetio HBS '80, opened the event and moderated the Q&A session that followed the keynote address by a well-known public figure and short remarks by a seasoned consultant on Indonesian affairs.  

In his capacity as chairman of Indonesia's National Economic Committee, the organization which works closely with the President in mapping out how the future holds for Indonesia, Pak Chairul Tanjung presented his views and projections on Indonesia's economic growth trajectory. He contended that Indonesia is sometimes overlooked amid the hype surrounding other emerging economies such as Brazil, China, India, Russia, to name just a few. However, the economic growth trajectory of Indonesia and the strong fundamentals, including growth rates unparalleled by most economies around the world,on which that optimism is based merits attention particularly from the international business community.  He expects Indonesia's nominal GDP to grow 12-15%. Indonesia, the largest economy in Southeast Indonesia will soon eclipse Netherlands' GDP in the next 1-2 years and probably Spain in not too distant future. Indonesia's population will be the beneficiary of this growth, with GDP per capita reaching USD 3000 (expected) by end of this year. National Economic Council has put the stick on the ground with an ambition to have 10 Indonesian companies in the Fortune 500 global list by 202

To anchor that enthusiasm in the realities on the ground, James Castle of Castle Asia, a risk advisory firm operating in Indonesia for the past 30 years, cautioned that, although top-line policy is pleasing to the ears of international investors, coordination and execution a the working level within the bureaucracy leaves much to be desired before Indonesia can come close to fulfilling its vast economic potential. Indonesia must take care of its kinks in the regulatory regime and eliminate the tripwires in the business landscape, says James Castle.

This event enriched the understanding of Harvard Club Indonesia members on the challenge of creating an enabling environment to achieve national development goals. More events that offer a glimpse of such policy-making processes will soon be offered.

John Prasetio has graciously provided us with the presentation materials. This can be downloaded at A Perspective on Indonesia's Growth and Progress

10 NOVEMBER 2010: US PRESIDENT OBAMA SPEECH AT UI 

Venue: Universitas Indonesia

Twenty-one of HCI members woke up early enough on November 10th to be at Senayan Timur Parking lot by 5:00 am. The bus started to leave promptly at 5:30 am onwards to reach Universitas Indonesia by around 6:30 am. The US Secret Service put us through vehicle x-ray scatter (so Tommy Tamtomo explained), and body scanner before we all started to fill the room fitting 5000+ people to see the speech

We were seated in the first 5 rows, in front of foreign diplomats, some ministers, and even our former President Habibie. Such a privilege seating position for the US university alumni, is in-line with what US President Obama said in his speech “to double the number of Indonesia students to the US”, “to have more US students studying in Indonesia”….

We were all treated to an INSPIRING speech, which begins with a simple statement…”Indonesia adalah bagian dari saya”, which translates to “Indonesia is part of me”…

Below is the link to the transcript of the speech to which Pak Hasan Soedjono gracefully posted in HCI-Discussion mailing list (Please also read his witty commentary!)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/11/10/remarks-president-university-indonesia-jakarta-indonesia

[Pictures postings of HCI members who attend the speech will follow]

14 OCTOBER 2010: BREAKFAST SERIES WITH EDDI SANTOSA,  DIRECTOR JAKARTA MRT 

Venue: Social House


Pak Eddi Santosa, Director of Corporate Functions MRT JAKARTA and Manpalagupta Sitorus, Head of Corporate Communications offered a refreshing straight to-the-point talk regarding the objective, design, financing and status of the Jakarta MRT Project

He communicated to us that the project was to be financed by the central and Jakarta government through soft loan financing from Japan.  The ride tickets fee is to be used to offset operational expense of the MRT, while the loan repayment will solely paid by government revenue. Given the first two stages of the project, from Dukuh Atas to Kota will cost about USD 2 Bn (for about 20 km at a cost of USD 100 mn per km), this is a relatively manageable project in terms of funding requirement.  We believe that the expected benefits should far outweigh the cost.

Pak Eddi also covered comparison of MRT projects in Hong Kong, and more recently in New Delhi.  Current design challenges, including establishing feeder lines, having larger pedestrian walkways, and incorporating existing PT Kereta Api railway into the network were discussed. There were questions being raised about fares; whether to price it high to encourage target riders in the CBD area, or to appeal to the more economically sensitive passengers (and thereby achieving universal service obligation objectives)

Attending members, including Hasan Soedjono, Hendrik Kianto, Marc Older, Matthew Busch, Anne Conlin and Tommy Tamtomo engaged in a lively discussion fuelled with some delicious breakfast, and they asked to do this at least once-a-month…We intend to do more of this, and we look forward to seeing more of you in future events…

You can find out about Jakarta MRT project at http://www.jakartamrt.com

15 SEPTEMBER 2010: DINNER DISCUSSION WITH DEAN ELLWOOD

Venue: Mandarin Oriental



About 50 Harvard Club of Indonesia (HCI) members showed up for an informal dinner conversation at the Mandarin Hotel with Harvard Kennedy School’s Dean David Ellwood, who was visiting Jakarta for among other matters on his packed agenda a lecture to Indonesia’s President on social welfare and job creation, as well as the launching of a Bahasa Indonesia version of a ground-breaking report on Indonesia’s longer term growth prospects.

The report was produced by the Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation.

The Dean and his team, Beth Kramer, Elizabeth Osborne, Julian Chang, and Anthony Saichs looked very "local" for the event wearing, wearing Batik attires.  He said, jokingly that Indonesian must be the smartest people in the world for making the thin Batik (compared with the thick suit), a formal enough attire to be worn to see the president!

As you can see from the blurred event pictures taken by mobile phones (this will be updated with a clearer version soon, courtesy of Pak Jaka & Jay Singgih's photo taking), the set-up was an open table, which allows the Dean to directly interact with all the attendees directly.  We are packed full to capacity of the room and at one time even had a waitlist!

The event managed to generate a wide interest, attracting diplomats, business people, economists, amongst others, and enough interest, that it brought out many "irregularly attending" HCI members out of their hibernation.  We hope that these "irregulars" will become regular attendees at our future events.

For complete listing of attendees and bios, you can check at members-only site at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HCI-announcement/files/ File name: Dean Ellwood Event Guestlist

At the dinner, Dean Ellwood delivered a presentation on the opportunities and constraints for “acting in time”, an organizing theme to investigative why leaders across all sectors, collective groups and indeed entire nations fail to act promptly and decisively to tackle grave social problems. He then pressed HCI members to consider their experiences and convey what they thought accounted for this phenomenon. At the end of the presentation, he fielded questions about this growing research on leadership.  It was a highly interactive exchange between the Dean and the attendees.

You can view the presentation materials at members-only website at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HCI-announcement/files/ File name: Dean Ellwood presentation to HCI

You can also view a description of HKS program in Indonesia at members-only website at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HCI-announcement/files/ File name: HKS Indonesia Program

(Please feel free to contact us if you are interested in participating in the program)

The night was closed with a surprise mini-birthday celebration, complete with birthday cake and song, for the Dean, whose birthday falls the day after the event on September 16th. This was followed by gift exchanges from the Dean to HCI and vice-versa.

We wish Dean Ellwood and team a fruitful visit to the rest of the countries they are visiting.

We certainly hope that everyone enjoyed the evening, and look forward to seeing you in future events.

2 SEPTEMBER 2010: FAREWELL DINO PATTI DJALAL 

Venue: Grand Banquet, Grand Hyatt

It was an electrifying night which began with Dino introducing his dad, Mr. Hasyim Djalal as being able to double Indonesia's maritime territory without firing a single bullet...that is due to the fine art of diplomacy that undoubtedly is inherited from father to his son, Dr. Dino Patti Djalal...

Dino sees that if a man (his father) who was the first in the family to go to school abroad in the US on scholarship, can make such an impact...just IMAGINE how much more impact could many more of Indonesian men and women make should they have the same opportunities...

He talked about the huge challenge that lies ahead in the US-Indonesia relationship.  But with this, comes a great opportunity as well, as US-Indonesia's relationship moves into deeper strategic ties…He promises that he would use his next assignment as Ambassador to the US to fight for Indonesia's interest and puts the relationship on fair equal footing with the US...

His message to the young generation, which he holds dearly in his heart is NOT TO WASTE TIME, TO DREAM, and NEVER BE DOGMATIC...TO WORK at it and SERVE the President and the country the best they can, so that they have no regrets in the future...

Dino and Rosa's farewell was well attended by people in the business community, foreign diplomats, friends and families...

We wish them Good Bye and Good Luck...

 25 AUGUST 2010: BUKA PUASA BERSAMA ADIWARMAN KARIM 

Venue: HCI Office in Mega Kuningan 


Pak Adi Karim gave quite an eye-opening overview for some, of what Syariah Banking is all about. The speech was peppered with information that only someone who really knows about Syariah Banking will know. For example: the fact that Syariah Banking in Malaysia may seem big (asset size at USD 65 Bn, capturing 27% of banking market share), but the majority of this is driven by the Malaysian Government, as the government corporate asset at 40% share, and government-linked-corporation at 40% share. This is not the case in Indonesia, where the majority of corporate asset is privately owned. Pak Adi Karim went into quite a bit of details into what is Haram and Halal in Syariah Banking, and the strategies that Syariah Banks use to “lend” money, while still comply to Syariah law. The discussion was filled with jokes and laughter, as people ponder the various “loopholes” and “antiquities” of Syariah Banking…

The event was well attended by 20+ people, and ranges from some of the earliest Harvard graduate from Indonesia, Pak Rachmat Kartadjoemena; Dr Widigdo Sukarman, the current President Commissioner of Bank Muamalat (He shared with us that the first graduate from KSG is Pak Rachmat Saleh, ex BI Governor; who graduated 25 years before him) to a recent 2010 KSG graduate, Jovan Jovanovic who shared the same class with Agus Yudhoyono…

The event was arranged by Lily Surya, HCI’s VP, Jika, HCI's Director of Community Relations and Ratna, HCI’s secretary, and the food were delicious, but there were too much leftover…we need more of you to show up to our events!


29 JULY 2010: HCI SPEAKER SERIES - MULIAMAN HADAD 

Venue: Ritz Carlton Mega Kuningan

This HCI Speaker Series event featured Muliaman Hadad (KSG), the Deputy Governor of Bank Indonesia (BI), Indonesia’s central bank. Although the topic was Banking and Finance in Indonesia, Muliaman touched upon a wide range of issues, including the global recession and the European debt crisis. He made clear the challenges the central bank faces in setting policy during uncertain and volatile economic times.

In addition to the 16 full-fledged HCI members who attended the event, one Boston-based alumna (HBS-HKS ‘10) and one current graduate student (HBS ’11), both of whom were interning at a local private equity firm, came for the special opportunity of having direct and personal access to one of Indonesia’s foremost policymakers whose decisions influence Indonesia’s credit markets. With catering provided by Ritz Carlton, the event was indeed a rare treat in more ways than one.

  22 JUNE 2010: GLOBAL NETWORKING NIGHT  

Venue: Paulaner Brauhaus

Of Harvard Club of Indonesia’s (HCI) 25 members who had RSVPed for Global Networking Night (GNN) in Jakarta, Indonesia on 22 June 2010, 21 actually showed up, marking one of the highest turnout the chapter has had in recent years.

HCI’s GNN featured two distinguished guests: Daewoo Professor of International Affairs Anthony Saich and post-doctoral fellow Edward Cunningham, both of whom are from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. The two guests took turns speaking about their research interests, mostly around China‘s development with implication of what that could mean for Southeast Asia, as well as developments in the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s new program focusing on Indonesia, which is funded by Indonesia’s Rajawali Group.

All in all, there was plenty of information-sharing, professional networking and merry-making, graciously catered by Paulaner Brauhaus, which supplied sumptuous German food and its own house-brewed beer. The venue had a large screen televising the World Cup, allowing HCI members to follow the tournament after GNN.