Nadiem Makarim, co-founder of unicorn startup Gojek Indonesia, announced on Monday that he has stepped down as the corporate’s CEO to take up a position in President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s latest cabinet as minister of education and culture, the web site reported Jakarta Globe.
“From today on, I no longer have any position or authority at Gojek,” Nadiem told reporters after meeting the president on the State Palace in Central Jakarta.
Jokowi, in his opening speech on Sunday, said he would want advisers who will deliver results, especially in simplifying and cutting red tape, in addition to in developing talent, nurturing innovation and attracting investment.
Nadiem, a graduate of Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts, has built a repute for transforming Indonesia’s dirty motorcycle taxi sector right into a $10 billion digital company that now spans several Southeast Asian countries.
Critics also rave in regards to the undeniable fact that Makarim has no education. President Jokowi himself addressed this issue during a press conference on Thursday, October 24.
“There are roughly 300,000 schools and 50 million students in Indonesia. Makarim’s management and application technology skills may help meet most of the needs of our country’s education system. Technology makes what was once unattainable possible, and that is what our education needs, a breakthrough,” said the President, as reported By Compass.
“This signifies that President Jokowi’s latest cabinet might be full of young people able to performing their duties,” Willson Cuaca said in an interview with Bloombergmanaging partner of East Ventures, one of the crucial lively Indonesian enterprise capital firms.
“It shows that Indonesia appreciates what it has done for the country. For Gojek, it has reached a degree where even when Nadiem resigns, every part will proceed as usual.
When your country calls you, you serve
“My mission at Gojek has always been to showcase Indonesia on the world stage,” he said this week after accepting the federal government position. “So this is a continuation of that mission, but now for the country on a larger scale.”
“Our schools and academic institutions will need to fulfill the demands of our future economy. Therefore, after I received the mandate of the Minister of Education and Culture, I knew it was something I needed to do,” Makarim quotes.
