Jakarta governor-elect Anis Baswedan (R) and his deputy governor-elect Sandiaga Uno (L) hold hands during a press conference in Jakarta on April 19, 2017.
Adek Berry | AFP | Getty Images
When Sandiaga Uno was appointed as Indonesia’s Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, it couldn’t have happened at a worse time.
It was December 2020, and the Covid-19 pandemic had halted travel to the country for months.
“I became the Minister of Tourism with no tourists,” Uno told CNBC’s Christine Tan at an event in Singapore last month.
In 2019, Indonesia recorded around 16 million international arrivals, but by 2021, that number had plummeted to 1.6 million. In 2022, the figure rose to 5.5 million arrivals.
“At one point, I thought maybe we shouldn’t have a ministry since we had no tourists. But then I realized that millions of people had lost their jobs… We were facing an extremely difficult time,” Uno said.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo told Uno, “‘You know what to do.'” Uno recalled, “I had no clue what to do, but I was thinking about what could truly make a difference for the people.”
This wasn’t the first time Uno, a multi-millionaire entrepreneur and businessman-turned-politician, faced a challenging career situation. After being unemployed during the Asian financial crisis in 1997, he established Saratoga Capital, an investment company initially focused on reviving struggling firms. Considering his previous experience, Uno believed that being appointed as Minister of Tourism during the Covid crisis may have been destiny.
“Perhaps this is my fate because when I started my business, I focused on companies that needed restructuring, fundraising, basically companies that needed to be revived,” Uno said.
“The tourism sector was the source of income for 45 million Indonesians, and nearly 5 million Indonesians lost their jobs,” he added.
Entrepreneurial Mindset
Uno told the ministry, “You need to have a startup mentality because you’re starting from scratch.” He explained that the team learned some difficult lessons while rebuilding the industry.
“When visitor numbers dropped to zero, we neglected the domestic economy. We were solely focused on attracting foreign tourists. However, we have a population of 280 million people, and this year we are aiming for 1.4 billion domestic tourists,” Uno revealed.
Along with promoting tourism, Uno’s role is to facilitate the growth of Indonesia’s creative industries, such as food, fashion, and crafts, through digital platforms. Approximately 23 million Indonesians work in this sector, and the digital economy is projected to reach $140 billion in 2021, up from $70 billion in 2019, according to Uno.
Given that Indonesia consists of over 17,000 islands, digital connectivity is not evenly distributed. Uno emphasized the need to invest up to $50 billion in digital infrastructure in the coming years to ensure that the country’s beautiful destinations and opportunities for small and medium enterprises do not go to waste due to lack of connectivity.
Uno began his career in banking in 1990 and earned an MBA from George Washington University in 1992. He later joined the oil and gas company NTI Resources in 1995. In 2013, he took Saratoga Capital’s investment arm public, raising $150 million after operating it for 15 years. That same year, Forbes listed Uno as one of Indonesia’s richest individuals with a net worth of $460 million.
“The listing was a success, and I’m truly grateful. Some government leaders then approached me and suggested joining political parties, but I continuously declined,” Uno said.
However, in 2015, Prabowo Subianto, the current Defense Minister of Indonesia, approached Uno. “He said to me, ‘You have achieved success and wealth because of Indonesia. Now it’s time for you to give back to your country.’ And that’s exactly what I did,” Uno shared.
A Multi-Million Dollar Campaign
Uno joined the right-wing Gerakan Indonesia Raya party (known as Gerindra) and became the deputy governor of Jakarta in 2017. He resigned in 2018 to be Subianto’s running mate in the presidential election, which cost the party nearly $100 million over a year, with Uno contributing a significant portion of the funds himself.
“Campaigning across the various regions of Indonesia is extremely challenging and expensive due to the logistics involved,” Uno explained. Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelagic state.
Subianto lost the election to Widodo, and Uno held no office until he was appointed to his current position by Widodo in 2020.
In April, Uno announced his decision to join Indonesia’s United Development Party (known as PPP), which he officially joined in June. “I am ready to fight hard for the people,” he stated, highlighting the party’s focus on improving the economy and increasing people’s income in preparation for the 2024 presidential election.
When asked if he aspires to become president someday, Uno replied, “That question should be directed to the Indonesian people.”
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