Jakarta – President Prabowo Subianto on Monday held a meeting with former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, during which the two former generals discussed a plan to set up a state investment firm.
Executive chairman of the Gerindra Party, Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, confirmed on Tuesday that President Prabowo visited Yudhoyono at his private home in Cikeas, West Java, and that the two discussed the state investment firm, among other issues, over dinner.
"Pak Prabowo held the meeting with Pak SBY to discuss plans to set up the investment firm," Dasco was quoted by Antara newswire as saying, referring to the former president by his initials.
Dasco said that Yudhoyono, who served two terms as president, had great experience in managing the economy, especially with regard to investment.
President Prabowo's meeting with Yudhoyono took place only two days after the former visited his predecessor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo in Surakarta, Central Java, over the weekend.
Senior aides within Prabowo's circle have said the President wants to establish a new investment agency that would become a holding company for state investments, similar to Singapore's Temasek.
The Daya Anagata Nusantara Investment Management Agency will be formed as soon as Prabowo gets approval from the House of Representatives, Muliaman Hadad, a former chief of the Financial Services Authority, who has been named head of the body, told reporters.
The structure of the agency is being discussed with other authorities, but the goal is for it to operate like Singapore's Temasek as a state-owned investment firm, said Muliaman.