Jakarta. Indonesian sovereign wealth fund Danantara is hoping that its yet-to-be-established philanthropic arm can become a hub for ASEAN’s generous donors.

Indonesia has floated a plan to set up something that would be akin to Singapore’s Temasek Fund. Danantara’s chief executive officer, Rosan Roeslani, pitched the idea when the government hosted American billionaire Bill Gates at Jakarta’s Merdeka Palace on Wednesday.

At present, Danantara already oversees the assets of 844 government-run businesses. The holding plans to annually allocate a portion of its dividends to the philanthropic fund, which Rosan called the “Danantara Trust Fund”, at least for now.  

“With this philanthropy, we want to turn Indonesia into a [philanthropic] hub in the ASEAN region. … I have spoken with some businessmen to put their philanthropic capital in Indonesia since we already have Danantara,” Rosan told reporters, not long after he met with Gates.

“Charitable giving represents 2 percent of the US’ gross domestic product [GDP]. So if we calculate [that same percentage] with Indonesia’s GDP of $1.5 trillion, that is equivalent to $30 billion [for us to unlock],” Rosan said.

Danantara will also allocate between 1 and 2.5 percent of the dividends within the superholding of Indonesian government businesses into the philanthropic arm each year. For starters, Danantara would annually inject about $100 million to the trust fund. The funding would eventually grow to $1 billion within five or six years. The money will go into the health sector, education, sanitation, and poverty alleviation programs. 

Rosan said that Danantara had discussed with the Gates Foundation, the philanthropy founded by the American billionaire, on the trust fund plans. Rosan would also check whether Indonesia’s state-owned businesses’ corporate social responsibility initiatives would align with the Danantara Trust Fund. Work is still underway to set up the Danantara Trust Fund, according to Rosan as he remained tight-lipped on the time frame for this endowment trustee.

“We will follow international standards. We not only wish to attract Indonesian philanthropists, but also those from other ASEAN nations. ... What’s most important is we will remain transparent,” he told the press.

Earlier that day, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin nudged Gates to join the Danantara Trust Fund’s advisory board once it is in place. According to Budi, the Danantara Trust Fund can benefit from Gates’ “systematic management”, saying that such skills would be necessary to gain the trust of donors. During the visit, Gates did not specifically comment on the Danantara Trust Fund initiative, but his foundation was open to working closely with Indonesia, among others, on tuberculosis and malaria vaccine trials.

Temasek Trust -- the inspiration behind Danantara’s philanthropic arm -- came into existence in 2007. It is in charge of stewarding philanthropic assets and gifts from Temasek and other third-party donors. The holding also set up the Temasek Foundation, which curates and develops community programs.

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