Ignasius Jonan

Jonan started his career as an accountant and investment manager. In 1999, he became Director for Private Equity at Citigroup branch in Indonesia. Two years later, he was appointed CEO of the government-owned investment firm, PT. Bahana Pembinaan Usaha Indonesia, assuming the role until 2006. From 2006 to 2009, he was promoted by Citi as Managing Director and Head of Investment Banking for Indonesia.^[5]

Jonan was appointed head of P.T. Kereta Api Indonesia in 2009, during the railway company's output and financial troubles. He faced various problems including PT. KAI's 27,000 employees with low expectations in terms of work quality, a financial deficit (in 2008, it lost Rp 82.6 billion), and a high percentage of substandard or broken locomotives, diesel trains, freight cars, and crumbling stations.^[6] In a speech for the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club, Jonan blamed the low train fares as a cause for the railway system's poor service and crowdedness.^[7]

Within 5 years, he overturned the public perception of the failing Indonesian rail transportation system. The company was able to increase passenger ridership by 50% in 2014 compared to when Jonan took up the role in 2009. Freight loads have also doubled to nearly 30 million tons per year.^[8]

On 26 October 2014, the newly-elected Indonesian President Joko Widodo named him as the 37th Minister of Transportation. Within this capacity, Jonan had wanted to ban ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Grab in 2015 citing existing regulations, but he was overridden by Widodo.^[9] In 2016, he again threatened a ban on the apps as they had not formally registered as taxi operators with the government.^[10]

Following the crash of Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 in 2014, Jonan alleged that budget airlines in Indonesia had been endangering passenger safety due to cost-cutting measures.^[11]

On 27 July 2016, President Joko Widodo removed Jonan from his post in a cabinet reshuffle.^[12] In response to the reshuffle, Ignasius Jonan, with a flat face, said, "I will come back". On 14 October 2016, the president appointed Ignasius Jonan again, but as Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources with Arcandra Tahar as his deputy.^[13]

• Indonesia :
  • Star of Mahaputera (2nd Class) (Indonesian: Bintang Mahaputera Adipradana) (2020)^[14]

• France :
  • Chevalier of the National Order of Legion of Honour (2016)^[15]
• Japan :
  • Gold and Silver Star of the Order of the Rising Sun (2022)^[16][17]
• Vatican :
  • Knight Commander with Star of the Order of St. Gregory the Great (2023)^[18]