Says Telkomsel's Investment In GoTo Is Right, CORE Indonesia Observer: Not Only Capital Gain, But Promises Business Collaboration

JAKARTA - CORE Indonesia political economy observer Piter Abdullah assessed that the investment of the state-owned telecommunications company Telkom into the Gojek-Tokopedia (GoTo) digital platform was appropriate, because it had fulfilled all the conditions and went through the approval process of many parties.

"We need to appreciate Telkomsel for its policy of investing in GoTo, because GoTo is the market leader and the main anchor of the digital economy in this country," Piter said in a statement quoted by Antara, Monday, June 13.

Piter said that Telkomsel had received investment approval from Singtel, the state-owned company in Singapore, which owns 35 percent of Telkomsel's shares. The existence of Telkom and GoTo as public companies is a guarantee that both of them uphold the principles of good corporate governance.

According to him, Telkom's investment in GoTo is not only profitable in terms of capital gains, but also promises business collaboration that has an impact on increasing Telkom's revenue and entering the digital business in a smart way through investment and collaborating with GoTo as the market leader.

"It is strange that if a telecommunications company of their size does not invest in a company that will determine the future of the digital economy, it will be regretful in the future," said Piter.

He further said that Telkom has the potential to make a lot of profit, because GoTo's share price has exceeded the IPO price of IDR 338 per share. Meanwhile, Telkomsel's investment value is Rp. 270 per share.

Piter views Telkom's floating loss as the beginning of all the chaos, then it was widened and then politicized excessively. According to him, excessive politicization will have a negative impact on the investment climate for start-ups or startups, which are currently facing serious challenges.

"GoTo is a strong company, but startups or prospective unicorns are not that strong and need investment," said Piter as well.

Meanwhile, political economy observer at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta, Dani Setiawan, smelled a bad smell from the maneuvers of politicians in the case of the Telkom subsidiary.

He assessed that their aim was no longer to question investment, but to attack the Minister of SOEs, Erick Thohir, to undermine his credibility in the interests of the 2024 presidential election.

"The presidential election is still two years away, but efforts to tackle the presidential election have been ongoing from now on. Erick's political opponents see an opportunity in the Telkom investment case, because of the presence of Boy Tohir as GoTo's President Commissioner," said Dani.

"When the momentum arrives, they try to capitalize on this issue very optimally. So they are scrambling to come up with the idea of creating a special committee and committee," he also said.

This lecturer at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences said that the political attack on Minister Erick using Telkom's investment bullet had three targets, namely to shake Erick's position in the cabinet, form a special committee and committee, and build a bad image and opinion against Erick.

President Joko Widodo's (Jokowi) plan to reshuffle his cabinet in the near future is used as an entry point to urge the President to remove Erick. Political opponents will exert pressure through opinions in the media and parliament about the depravity and conflict of interest of Erick in managing state-owned companies in Indonesia.

If it fails through the door reshuffle, the next plan is to form a special committee (pansus) and work committee (panja). Politicians will build resistance in parliament to urge Erick to step down because he is considered to have carried out improper corporate governance in Telkom's investment in GoTo.

If they still fail to saw off Erick's position through the committee and the special committee, then their minimum target is to form a bad image and opinion of Erick as a state official. The formation of bad opinions will continue to damage credibility and eventually fade popularity.

“Telkom and GoTo are public companies. The reputation of both could fall apart if the politicization is not stopped immediately. Both are public companies, so any investment decisions or business strategies have gone through many credible and accountable processes," said Dani Setiawan.