Gita Wirjawan

Former Minister of Trade of Indonesia (2011-2014)

Gita Wirjawan is founding partner of Ikhlas Capital and the chairman of Ancora Group, an Indonesian business group with interests in real estate, natural resources, arts and technology, which he founded in 2007.

His public service has included positions as Indonesia’s minister of trade (2011–2014), chairman of its Investment Coordinating Board (2009–2011), and chair of a 159-nation WTO ministerial conference in 2012 that focused on easing global trade barriers. He led his country’s national badminton association from 2012 to 2016, when Indonesia won 3 gold medals at the World Championships, four titles at the All England Championships, and one gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

As an investment banker, he has held key appointments at Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, where he led many mergers, corporate restructuring, corporate financing and strategic sales involving leading companies in Southeast Asia. His various board roles included service as a commissioner of the state-owned oil giant, Pertamina, and an independent board director of Axiata Group Berhad.

Gita hosts the educational podcast “Endgame”, focused on the region to promote Southeast Asia’s growth and prosperity. He is a visiting scholar with Stanford’s Precourt Institute for Energy, researching Southeast Asia’s nation-building directionality. Additionally, he is a member of the Angsana Council, a non-profit group dedicated to boosting the region’s businesses and economies, and global advisory firm Macro Advisory Partners.

His degrees are from the Harvard Kennedy School (MPA), Baylor University (MBA), and the University of Texas at Austin (BSc).

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