Danantara shifts into deployment era with US$12 billion war chest

Published Fri, Jan 23, 2026 · 07:51 AM

[HONG KONG/SINGAPORE] Indonesian sovereign wealth fund Danantara is ramping up deployment of about US$12 billion and preparing to tap global debt markets as it shifts from start-up mode to large-scale investing, its chief investment officer said.

The fund is preparing a roughly 20 trillion rupiah (S$1.5 billion) offering of so-called patriot bonds in Indonesia that will be “coming soon” and could be followed by further sales, Pandu Sjahrir said. A global bond sale is also being targeted as Danantara scales up deployment.

“That will be the first set, and from there it will progress,” he said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The plan for a fresh domestic offering confirms a Bloomberg News report earlier this month.

Launched in February last year to manage Indonesia’s state-owned enterprises and generate investment returns, Danantara is now shifting from a start-up phase into execution, Sjahrir said. He said that the fund aims to deploy close to 200 trillion rupiah across projects, direct investments and in public markets, some of which has already begun.

“This is the start of the deployment era,” he said.

Danantara reports directly to the president and has been positioned as a key vehicle to attract capital and drive growth in South-east Asia’s largest economy, which saw lacklustre growth and stagnant foreign investment last year.

Danantara’s investment in the first quarter will include projects on healthcare, energy and renewable downstreaming. “These are the three key sectors that I know is part of the president’s agenda,” Sjahrir said.

Sjahrir did not elaborate on the source of funds. Danantara receives more than US$5 billion in annual dividends from Indonesia’s state enterprises, some of which flow to the investment arm Sjahrir oversees.

Last year, the arm also raised about US$3.6 billion in a maiden patriot bond and said it had approval for a US$1 billion unsecured syndicated credit facility from overseas banks.

Danantara has already begun investing in domestic equities and government bonds, and is selecting external managers to invest in overseas public and private markets in the second half of the year, Sjahrir said. The fund is “closely watching” global liquidity shifts, including in China, Japan and South Korea.

The fund is also advancing its first overseas investment in Saudi Arabia, where it plans to spend “at least US$1 billion” developing hospitality and real estate assets catering to the hundreds of thousands of Indonesians who travel on pilgrimages to Mecca each year. Danantara announced the acquisition of a hotel in December and is bidding for land nearby.

“We are very aggressively looking to invest in land both in Mecca and the surrounding area,” Sjahrir said, adding that the fund expects clarity on bids in the coming months.

“It just makes great business sense, and strategically very important for us,” he said. BLOOMBERG