Susi Pudjiastuti (born 15 January 1965) is an Indonesian entrepreneur who served as the Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

under President

Joko Widodo Joko Widodo (; born 21 June 1961), popularly known as Jokowi, is an Indonesian politician and businessman who is the 7th and current president of Indonesia. Elected in July 2014, he was the first Indonesian president not to come from an elit ...

's 2014-2019 Working Cabinet. She is also the owner of PT ASI Pudjiastuti Marine Product, a seafood export company, and PT ASI Pudjiastuti Aviation, which operates

Susi Air PT ASI Pudjiastuti Aviation, operating as Susi Air, is a scheduled and charter airline based in Pangandaran, West Java, Indonesia. Sixty percent of the airline's operation serves commercial regular routes and pioneer routes while the rest is ch ...

charter airline.

Early life, family, and education

Pudjiastuti was born 15 January 1965, in

Pangandaran Pangandaran is a town and district of Pangandaran Regency within the province of West Java, Indonesia. It is located on the southern coast of the island of Java. A well-known surfing beach has made Pangandaran a popular tourist destination. His ...

West Java West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...

, the daughter of

Haji Hajji ( ar, الحجّي; sometimes spelled Hadji, Haji, Alhaji, Al-Hadj, Al-Haj or El-Hajj) is an honorific title which is given to a Muslim who has successfully completed the Hajj to Mecca. It is also often used to refer to an elder, since it ...

Ahmad Karlan and

Hajjah Hajjah ( ar, حَجَّة, Ḥajjah) is the capital city of Hajjah Governorate in north-western Yemen. It is located 127 kilometres northwest of Sana'a, at an elevation of about 1800 metres. As of 2003, the Hajjah City District had a population ...

Suwuh Lasminah. She is Javanese, but her family are fifth-generation settlers of Pangandaran, which is predominantly Sundanese. Her family business was engaged primarily in

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more genera ...

and

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to ani ...

farming. Following

junior high school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

, Pudjiastuti continued

senior high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

at SMA Negeri 1

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, ...

, but did not complete her studies after she was expelled for

political activism Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range ...

promoting Golput (Golongan Putih, or

blank ballot A protest vote (also called a blank, null, spoiled, or "none of the above" vote) is a vote cast in an election to demonstrate dissatisfaction with the choice of candidates or the current political system. Protest voting takes a variety of forms a ...

in protest of the

Golkar ) , foundation = , youth = AMPG (Golkar Party Young Force) , women = KPPG (Golkar Party Women's Corps) , newspaper = ''Suara Karya'' (1971–2016) , headquarters = Jakarta , ideology ...

Party's dominance making Indonesia a

One-party state A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other partie ...

), a movement which was banned under then President

Suharto Suharto (; ; 8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian army officer and politician, who served as the second and the longest serving president of Indonesia. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, Suharto l ...

's New Order. Pudjiastuti was the first Indonesian minister to have never completed a high school education, although after she became a government minister, she enrolled for a late high school programme (''Paket C''), and she officially graduated in 2018. Susi Pudjiastuti had three children; Panji Hilmansyah, Nadine Kaiser, and Alvy Xavier. Her first son, Panji Hilmansyah, died aged 31 on 18 January 2016 in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

due to

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

. Susi is divorced, and is known to have tattoos and be a chain-smoker.

Entrepreneurship and Susi Air

In 1983, Pudjiastuti embarked on a career as an entrepreneur, starting as a

seafood Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs (e.g. bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters and mussels, and cephalopods such as octopus an ...

distributor at a Fish Auction Facility (TPI) in

. Her distributorship evolved into a seafood processing plant in 1996 named PT ASI Pudjiastuti Marine Product, which specialised in export-quality

lobster Lobsters are a family (Nephropidae, synonym Homaridae) of marine crustaceans. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs have claws, including the first pair, ...

s packaged as 'Susi Brand'. PT ASI Pudjiastuti Marine Product expanded, and began exporting its products to

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

and America. The growing demand for PT ASI Pudjiastuti Marine Product's fresh seafood lead to rapid

air transport Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot ai ...

as a necessity for the business. In 2004, Pudjiastuti acquired a

Cessna 208 Caravan The Cessna 208 Caravan is a utility aircraft produced by Cessna. The project was commenced on November 20, 1981, and the prototype first flew on December 9, 1982. The production model was certified by the FAA in October 1984 and its Cargo ...

, and established PT ASI Pudjiastuti Aviation. The

Cessna Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufacturing ...

was given the call-sign '

', and was used to transport fresh Indonesian seafood to

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital city, capital and list of Indonesian cities by population, largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coa ...

, as well as overseas to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

, and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. During the

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time ( UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern ...

which devastated

Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a ...

and the west coast of

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

, Susi Air, which at the time only consisted of two

Cessna Grand Caravan The Cessna 208 Caravan is a utility aircraft produced by Cessna. The project was commenced on November 20, 1981, and the prototype first flew on December 9, 1982. The production model was certified by the FAA in October 1984 and its Cargomas ...

s, was one of the first responders which distributed food and supplies to victims in isolated areas of the disaster. During this period, Susi Air was routinely chartered in Aceh by

non-governmental organisations A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

(NGOs) for

humanitarian relief Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and ...

missions. The revenues earned from the NGO Aceh missions enabled Susi Air to acquire new aeroplanes, and expand its fleet to routes in Papua and

Kalimantan Kalimantan () is the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. It constitutes 73% of the island's area. The non-Indonesian parts of Borneo are Brunei and East Malaysia. In Indonesia, "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo. In 2019, ...

. Susi Air is now the largest operator of Cessna Grand Caravans in the Asia Pacific region

Appointment as Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries

On 26 October 2014, President

appointed Pudjiastuti as Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries under his 2014-2019 working cabinet. Prior to accepting her appointment, Pudjiastuti relinquished her position as President Director of PT ASI Pudjiastuti Marine Product and PT ASI Pudjiastuti Aviation. She inherited an agency in danger of being eliminated. Foreign fishing boats regularly encroached on Indonesian waters surrounding the archipelago's 17,500 islands. She impounded hundreds of foreign fishing boats, and had them destroyed. Since taking office, most of the 10,000 foreign fishing boats preying on Indonesia's biodiversity have quit Indonesian waters. From 2013 to 2017, fishing stocks have more than doubled during her watch. In April 2018, she ordered the interception and capture of the '' Andrey Dolgov'', a notorious illegal fishing boat. On 16 September 2016, the

World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the W ...

(WWF) awarded her the Leaders for a Living Planet Award. This is in recognition of her efforts as Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries in promoting sustainable development in the Indonesian fisheries sector and conservation of the marine ecosystem, as well as her fierce crackdown on illegal fishing in Indonesian waters. According to a study published in the journal ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

'', Susi's aggressive anti-illegal fishing policies have "reduced total fishing effort by at least 25%, (...) otentiallygenerate a 14% increase in catch and a 12% increase in profit."

Awards and honours

*Makan Ikan Bersama Team : by Tri Miranto *Purwa Citra Priangan Award for Fishermen Life Motivator; by Pikiran Rakyat. 2004 *Award for Tourism Pioneer; by West Java Department of Culture and Tourism. 2004 *Award for Pioneer Fishery Export; by Governor of West Java. 2005 *EY Awards, Young Entrepreneur of the Year; by Ernst and Young Indonesia. 2005 *Primaniyarta Award for Best Small & Medium Enterprise;33 by President of RI. 2005 *Metro Eagle Award, Award for Economics; by Metro TV. 2006 *Inspiring Woman for Development Motivator; by Governor of West Java. 2008 *West Java Best Trader (''Saudagar Tatar Sunda''); by West Java Trade and Commerce. 2008 *The Best Indonesia Berprestasi Award; by PT Excelcomindo Pratama. 2009 *Sofyan Ilyas Award; by Ministry of Marine Affair and Fisheries. 2009 *The Indonesian Small & Medium Business Entrepreneur Award; by Ministry of Cooperative & SME. 2010 *Ganesha Widya Jasa Aditama Award; by Institute Technology of Bandung. 2011 *Award For Innovative Achievements, Extraordinary Leadership and Significant Contributions to the Economy at Women and Economy Summit (WES), USA; by APEC. 2011 *People of The Year 2013; by MNC Group Newspaper (''Koran Sindo''). 2014 *Person of The Year 2014; by ''Warga Kota Solo''. 2015 *First Women to be Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries; by Indonesian Record Museum (MURI). 2015 *''Perempuan Jawa Barat'' Award; by The Indonesian Youth Committee (KNPI). 2015 *10 November Award; by Sepuluh November Institute of Technology, Surabaya (ITS Surabaya). 2015 *''Tokoh Publik Inspirasional Tahun Ini'', Public Relations Award and Summit; by Serikat Perusahaan Pers. 2016 * Leaders for Living Planet Award; by

(WWF). 2016 *

Doctor Honoris Causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad ho ...

(Dr.h.c.) by Diponegoro University. 2016 *Peter Benchley Ocean Awards. 2017 *Seafood Champion Award. 2017 *The

BBC 100 Women ''100 Women'' is a BBC multi-format series established in 2013. The annual series examines the role of women in the 21st century and has included events in London and Mexico. Announcement of the list is the start of an international "BBC's women ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

*Doctor Honoris Causa; by Sepuluh November Institute of Technology, Surabaya. 2017 *''Srikandi Nekat'' Award; by Retno Sekar Budoyo Foundation. 25 February 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pudjiastuti, Susi 1965 births Living people Javanese people Sundanese people People from Pangandaran Government ministers of Indonesia Indonesian businesspeople Indonesian women in business Women government ministers of Indonesia BBC 100 Women 21st-century Indonesian women politicians 21st-century Indonesian politicians