“We cannot have politicians in the company. It has to be professional,” he said, adding that the fund had laid rules stipulating that it had to be run for profit.

He acknowledged funds often had to balance national interests while meeting international transparency and governance standards.

“Given where Danantara is today, there’s a lot of pull for us to do things that may be important for the country, but not yet profitable as a project,” he said. “The art of saying no is super important.”