By Yantoultra Ngui and Xinghui Kok
SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Indonesia’s new sovereign wealth fund Danantara will deploy about $10 billion in its first three months of operation starting in October, with 80% earmarked for domestic investments and the rest going overseas, its chief investment officer said on Thursday.
Danantara, short for Daya Anagata Nusantara, was launched in February by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto with an initial allocation of $20 billion to kickstart 20 strategic projects, and will start deploying funds for the first time this month.
The fund’s mandate is to manage state assets professionally and transparently, while supporting Indonesia’s economic transformation and strengthening its competitiveness, according to its official website.
“This month is the first time we’re deploying capital. In the first three months alone, we already have to invest close to $10 billion,” Pandu Sjahrir, Danantara’s CIO, told Reuters on the sidelines of the Milken Institute Asia Summit 2025 in Singapore.
Among its early projects are a Haj village in Saudi Arabia, upstream energy ventures with Pertamina, and waste-to-energy plants in Indonesia, with some projects going online at the end of this year, he added.
Danantara is also working to boost liquidity in Jakarta’s stock market, where daily trading averages stand at around $1 billion, far behind India’s $10 billion to $11 billion, Sjahrir said.
“We need a really strong public market for the private market to be able to come in because the public market is a place where you recycle that capital,” Sjahrir said, adding that Danantara’s 18 portfolio companies already account for about a third of the domestic market’s value.
Danantara plans to focus on energy security, food security, renewable energy, financial services, healthcare, real estate and digital infrastructure over the next two years, he said.
It is also embedding ESG principles into its investment process and aims to attract global talent to strengthen its team, he added.
The fund is also seeking full membership in the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds, and separately expects to launch new funds or platforms in the coming months, he said.
Sjahrir said Indonesia remains “one of the world’s best-kept secrets” for investors, citing strong growth, low inflation, and a young population. “One of the very few places that offers not just great returns, but great safety,” he added.
(Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui and Xinghui Kok; Editing by David Stanway)