Erick Thohir Wants Young People And Gender Equality BUMN Leaders: This Is Not Lip Service

SOE Minister Erick Thohir. (Photo: screenshot of the Ministry of SOEs Youtube)

JAKARTA - Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) Erick Thohir emphasized that his party encourages young people who have competence to occupy top positions in government business entities.

"We have proven that my two wamen (deputy ministers) are younger than me. This is a proof of siding with human resources," he said in the Young BUMN webinar which was held on Wednesday, August 25.

According to Erick, a number of important seats in BUMN are now being filled by the younger generation. Even he has a specific target to ensure this.

“I do not hesitate to remind that we have a target this year, namely that young leadership must be at 5 percent this year. But the latest report says it's only 4 percent," he said.

Erick added that he didn't just want to ensure that young people could fill important posts in BUMN entities. More than that, he wants to realize gender equality and can also give color to state companies.

“For the last gender equality, it was only 12 percent after being reported to me, it was 14 percent. Even though it's already August, we only have four months to realize this," he said.

However, the Mahaka boss said that he did not want to impose this target considering that the leadership aspect is quite crucial in a business institution.

“I only encourage individuals to achieve common goals, because choosing a leader is an important milestone for a corporation. If you choose the wrong one, it can become a 'snowball' which has an impact in a bad direction,” he said.

To note, Erick Thohir who leads the Ministry of SOEs has around 88 specific targets that must be achieved within the next two years.

"Until 2023 we must be able to achieve 88 targets, not to mention we also have an agenda to change CSR (corporate social responsibility) to focus more on education. Then the second thing is to remain concerned about the green environment, and take sides with MSMEs," he explained.

"This is not lip service, and it's not something new either. We as leaders want to make sure that everything is implemented," concluded Erick.