“Nobody said a thing when we took foreigners to coach the football team."
13 Januari 2017 12:14
Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Panjaitan said on Monday that the government is considering hiringforeign nationalities to lead several state-owned companies.
The president said that were considering taking foreigners as CEOs of state-owned companies. We have foreigners coaching the national football team and nobody bats an eye. Its going to be a challenge for us. If Indonesians are not up to the jobs, we can give them to foreigners, Luhut said on Monday, as quoted by CNN.
Taking foreign nationals as CEO of state-owned companies is nothing new, according to Luhut, as it has been done in many countries.
Emirates Airlines CEO is British and no one complained. He turned it into a better company, Luhut said.
Nobody said a thing when we took foreigners to coach the football team. People are even saying that we shouldbe hiring the most famous coachesfrom Europe, he added.
The statement has sparked controversy. Among those opposing this view is Teguh Juwarno, chairman of the House of Representatives' Commission VI, which oversees trade and state-owned companies, who claim such plans to be unnecessary.
Is it possible that among the 200 million Indonesians, nobody has the right competence and capability to lead those companies? he asked on Thursday. We have many Indonesians with bright careers working abroad. Why dont the government just bring them home instead of taking foreigners?
The government has been pushing our youth to take part in the development yet they dont have faith in our youths human resources.
He added that comparing CEOs with football coaches was unwise.
Its not apple to apple. How could you compare the chiefs of state-owned companies, who have major role in guarding national economic stability and guarding state secrets, to the national football team manager? he said.
