Sumitro Djojohadikusumo

Sumitro Djojohadikusumo was born in Kebumen, Central Java, in 1917. He studied economics in Rotterdam and also attended courses in Paris. His doctoral research, completed in 1943, examined popular credit during the Depression. Returning to Indonesia in 1946, he worked for Prime Minister Sutan Sjahrir and entered the Republic’s diplomatic campaign for international recognition. He served in the delegation at the United Nations and participated in the 1949 Round Table Conference. ¹

His American work combined political advocacy with economic negotiations. In June 1948 he met State Department officials to convey the Republic’s qualified acceptance of proposals for renewed negotiations with the Dutch and to ask whether Washington would support them. As Indonesian minister in the United States in January 1950, he worked with Djuanda on presenting reconstruction requirements to American officials. Correspondence from Ambassador Merle Cochran connected their discussions with proposed Export-Import Bank financing for equipment and other productive investment. ^{2, 3}

Back in Indonesia, Sumitro became trade and industry minister in 1950–1951 and twice served as finance minister during the 1950s. His economic program sought to expand domestic industry and give Indonesian entrepreneurs greater access to commerce through the Benteng system. The results were uneven: business licenses could pass into the hands of established traders rather than build the intended new enterprises. ^{1, 6}

He also built institutions for training economists. As dean of the University of Indonesia’s economics faculty from 1951 to 1957, he recruited instructors, developed teaching facilities and research units, and promoted a curriculum directed toward Indonesia’s economic problems. With Ford Foundation support, cooperation with the University of California, Berkeley brought visiting teachers to Jakarta and sent Indonesian scholars abroad. The Institute of Economic and Social Research linked university work with public policy. Several of the students formed part of the later generation of government economic advisers. ^{4, 5}

Sumitro broke with Sukarno and left Jakarta in 1957, joining the regional opposition that developed into the PRRI rebellion. He sought foreign support and subsequently lived in exile. In later recollections he acknowledged CIA contacts while rejecting American control of the movement. Historian Israr Iskandar connects his participation with disputes over regional autonomy and Sukarno’s relationship with the Communist Party. ⁶

After returning under Suharto, he served as trade minister in 1968–1973 and minister for research and development in 1973–1978. He continued teaching, writing, and criticizing corruption after leaving office. During the late 1990s crisis he argued that damaged public institutions were central to Indonesia’s difficulties. He died in 2001. ^{6, 5}