Thaksin among prominent figures in Indonesia’s Danantara fund

Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is among 22 prominent figures appointed to Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund, Daya Anagata Nusantara (Danantara), in an effort to boost positive sentiment toward the Indonesian economy.

According to a report by Nikkei Asia, American billionaire Ray Dalio and U.S. economist Jeffrey Sachs were also included in the “dream team” tasked with shaping the fund’s strategy.

The appointments come as the Indonesian government struggles to reassure markets that its economic policies will drive prosperity and that it will not interfere excessively in the management of the 40 state-owned enterprises being transferred to the newly launched entity.

Indonesia’s benchmark index fell as much as 4.7% on Monday before recovering some of its losses. Last Tuesday, the index dropped 7% before rebounding. Meanwhile, the rupiah remains one of the worst-performing Asian currencies this year.

According to Reuters, Danantara serves as Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto's key vehicle to achieve his 8% growth target by 2029. The fund will manage all shares of state-owned enterprises and reinvest the dividends into commercial projects.

Danantara is expected to eventually oversee more than $900 billion in assets and has been described by officials as Indonesia's version of Singapore's Temasek.

In its first $20 billion investment phase, the fund will focus on projects related to natural resource processing, artificial intelligence development, and energy and food security.

Danantara CEO Rosan Roeslani said the appointments of professional executives would further secure market confidence.

"When these names are received well, it could be a positive signal for the Indonesian economy, job creation," he said, adding all of Indonesia's state-owned enterprises were now under the new fund's management.