Indonesia’s state-owned port operator PT Pelindo II is seeking to recruit foreign executives to improve the management and efficiency of its ports.
Company CEO Richard Joost Lino said recently that Pelindo, also known as the Indonesia Port Corporation (IPC), wants to fill four out of nine slots on the board of directors with foreign nationals who are experts in strategic operations, business development, and human resources, in a move that is expected to stir new controversy over his brand of leadership.
“Many people shrieked ‘nationalism’, but it turned out that their deeds were not aimed at assisting the people, rather to support their own interests and enrich themselves,” he was quoted as saying by local media.
“However, what I will do here is for the sake of improving service quality at ports, something that will benefit the economy and our people. Which one is more nationalistic?”
IPC has one non-local on the board of directors, Aussie David Adams, who functions as chief financial officer, reports said.
Lino has already allowed foreign investors to supervise Indonesian ports by granting a 25-year concession to Japan-based Mitsui to manage the first terminal at the new Kalibaru Port in north Jakarta.
