Forbes Indonesia Magazine - June 2018

In this issue

This month's cover subject is Tigor Siahaan, the president director of PT CIMB Niaga. He's a veteran banker, with more than two decades of experience, mostly at Citibank, one of the worlds's biggest global banks. He already had four years of experience running Citi’s operations in Indonesia before he stepped into the role at CIMB Niaga. It may seem like an easy transition at first glance, but there are several key differences between the two banks. For one, Citi operates in about 100 countries, while CIMB Niaga is a Malaysia-based regional bank. In Indonesia, Citi is a big brand but not necessarily a big bank, while CIMB Niaga is the country’s fifth largest by assets. Thus, a way to sum up the change was that Tigor swapped a big global brand for a more regional one, but with a bigger local presence. He was also tasked with a repair job—the weak Indonesian economy had contributed to a decline in the bank’s franchise. Tigor’s strong hand in restoring the bank came just as the economy also turned around, so he was able to position the bank to fully maximize the opportunity when it came. As the old saying goes, one key to success is to make your own luck. From a time in 2015 when many of the bank’s arrows on its quarterly reports were pointing down, these days Tigor can deliver reports where those same arrows are pointing up.