Sara Webb & Olivia Rondonuwu – Tycoon Aburizal Bakrie, who wants to run for president in 2014, believes that better infrastructure is more likely to attract foreign investors to Southeast Asia's biggest economy than fighting corruption.
Bakrie, coordinating minister for people's welfare in President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government, is a member of the Golkar Party, the political machine that dominated the House of Representatives for decades under former President Suharto but which has lost much of its support in the post-Suharto democracy.
Bakrie, whose family controls coal-miner PT Bumi Resources, plantations, property and telecoms firms, is regarded as a holdover from the Suharto era. He is an opponent of Sri Mulyani Indrawati, the finance minister and coordinating economic minister who has promoted reform and the fight against graft. Bakrie also owns infrastructure businesses such as toll road builders.
"What they [investors] want is infrastructure," followed by less red tape and more transparency, Bakrie said in an interview with Reuters on Monday.
"During the Suharto era, total investment per year was much more than now, and at that time the corruption was a lot [greater] compared to now, yet they [foreigners] invested."
Foreigners frequently cite corruption, bureaucracy, an unpredictable legal system and poor infrastructure as deterrents to investment, and many have welcomed progress in tackling graft.
Bakrie said he expects to win next month's contest for the leadership of Golkar – defeating rivals Surya Paloh, a media magnate from Aceh, and Tommy Suharto, President Suharto's wealthy youngest son who spent time in prison for ordering the murder of a judge. But he does not want to be in the next cabinet or join Yudhoyono's coalition for the next five-year term.
Golkar, which typically won 70 percent to 80 percent of the votes during President Suharto's rule, only got about 14 percent in the House elections in April.
Yudhoyono's Democrat Party won a fifth of the votes, on the back of its pro-reform policies, and will form the new government in October with a coalition of several smaller parties.
Investors are now watching closely to see who Yudhoyono will pick for his key cabinet posts, with Sri Mulyani widely tipped to retain the finance ministry and possibly also keep her post as coordinating economic minister – potentially paving the way for further clashes with Bakrie over his business empire.
"I never have trouble [or] disagreement with Sri Mulyani," said Bakrie, who previously held the post of coordinating minister for the economy, adding that "we differ sometimes" on policies.
"She's good as a finance minister, but she's not good as a coordinating minister. She doesn't understand a thing about the real sector. But [as] finance minister [she] is good, as a cashier she's good."