Sugiharto (sometimes spelled Soegiharto; 29 April 1955 – 15 July 2021) was an Indonesian politician and businessman. He was

Minister of State Owned Enterprises The Minister for State Owned Enterprises is the Ministers in the New Zealand Government, minister in the New Zealand Government responsible for trading enterprises owned by the New Zealand Government (see State-owned enterprises of New Zealand ...

from 2004 to 2007 and was deputy chairman of the

Indonesian Association of Muslim Intellectuals The Indonesian Association of Muslim Intellectuals (Indonesian: ''Ikatan Cendekiawan Muslim Indonesia'', ICMI) is a Muslim organization in Indonesia. Founded in 1990 by Indonesian Minister of Research and Technology B. J. Habibie, the organisatio ...

(ICMI). He died of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

in 2021.

Biography

Sugiharto was born in

Medan Medan ( , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of North Sumatra. The nearby Strait of Malacca, Port of Belawan, and Kualanamu International Airport make Medan a regional hub and multi ...

North Sumatra North Sumatra () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the northern part of the island of Sumatra. Its capital and largest city is Medan on the east coast of the island. It borders Aceh to the northwest, Riau to the sou ...

, Indonesia, on 29 April 1955. Although his family originated in

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

, they were living in Sumatra due to the

Transmigrasi The transmigration program (, from Dutch, ''transmigratie'') was an initiative of the Dutch colonial government and later continued by the Indonesian government to move landless people from densely populated areas of Indonesia to less populo ...

policy. After doing an undergraduate degree at the

University of Indonesia The University of Indonesia (UI; ) is a public university in Depok, West Java and Salemba, Jakarta, Indonesia. It is one of the oldest tertiary-level educational institutions in Indonesia (known as the Dutch East Indies when UI was established) ...

, he did a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

, graduating in 1997. From 1991 to 2004 he was also director of finance and administration at

MedcoEnergi PT Medco Energi Internasional Tbk or MedcoEnergi is an Indonesian oil and gas company. The company operates in Trading and Holding & Related Operations, Exploration for and Production of Oil & Gas, Power, Services, Chemicals and Rental of proper ...

. In 2004, he was appointed by Indonesian president

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (born 9 September 1949), commonly referred to as SBY, is an Indonesian politician and retired Indonesian Army, army general who served as the sixth president of Indonesia from 2004 to 2014 and the second president of Ind ...

to the position of

as part of the

First United Indonesia Cabinet The First United Indonesia Cabinet (), formerly the United Indonesia Cabinet (), was the official name of the presidential cabinet of Indonesia, led by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during his first period in office from 2004 until 2009. It ...

. He was an independent politician not affiliated with any particular party. In May 2007 he was removed from his position in a cabinet shuffle, being replaced by

Sofyan Djalil Sofyan Abdul Djalil (born September 23, 1953) is an Indonesian academic, economic legal consultant and politician who was the List of Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning, Minister of Agrarian and Spatial Planning of Indonesia under ...

. After his time as minister ended, he returned to the business world and was president-commissioner of

Pertamina PT Pertamina (Persero) is an Indonesian state-owned oil and natural gas corporation, headquartered in Jakarta. It was created in August 1968 by the merger of ''Pertamin'' (established 1961) and ''Permina'' (established in 1957). In 2020, the ...

from 2010 to 2015. He also became deputy chairman of the

(ICMI). In early July 2021 Sugiharto was hospitalized due to

infection. He died after nine days in the Pertamina Central Hospital in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

on 15 July 2021.

Selected publications

* (Elex Media Komputindo, 2005) * (Penerbit Republika, 2007) * (Elex Media Komputindo, 2007) * (Sekolah Pascasarjana UGM, 2010, with Hadi Mustofa Djuraid and M. Fachrie Husein)

References

{{Reflist 21st-century Indonesian politicians 1955 births 2021 deaths Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia People from Medan