Pahala Mansury switches from banker’s role to deputy foreign minister

Jakarta, Indonesianpost.com – President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) inaugurated five new deputy ministers at the State Palace on Monday, including Deputy Foreign Minister Pahala Nugraha Mansury.

The seat for the deputy foreign minister had been vacant for almost a year when the former deputy foreign minister, Mahendra Siregar, left to be Chairman of the Financial Services Authority (OJK) and was officialized on July 20, 2022.

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Mansury, 52, earlier served as Deputy Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) since December 23, 2020, replacing Budi Gunadi Sadikin, who was appointed as the Health Minister.

Prior to his tenure at the SOEs Ministry, Mansury was the President and Director of the state-owned bank PT Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN) from 2019 to 2020.

Prior to that, he had also occupied important positions in some state-run corporations.

He served as Finance Director of state oil and gas company PT Pertamina in 2018-2019, President Director of state airline carrier PT Garuda Indonesia in 2017-2018, and Treasury & Market Director of state-owned bank PT Bank Mandiri in 2015-2017.

He worked as a professional in various international consulting firms.

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He won the ASEAN’s Best CFO Award in 2021, Indonesia’s Best CFO in 2013, and runner-up for the Finance Asia Indonesia “CFO of the Year” in 2007 and 2009.

Mansury said he will use his experience in corporations and expertise in the economic field to carry out his duty at the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Mansury said he has received a special directive from the president in implementing strategies in order to increase international trade and investment.

“Indeed, the challenges ahead are how to enhance our economic relations with other countries,” he told reporters after his inauguration.

He was born on April 8, 1971, and gained his bachelor’s degree in accounting from the Faculty of Economics, University of Indonesia.

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He continued his studies and earned a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the NYU Stern School of Business, in the US.

Rosan Perkasa Roeslani, who was earlier the Indonesian Ambassador to the US, will occupy the post of deputy minister for SOEs, replacing Mansury.