east2west_property 
east2west_property 
Budiarsa Sastrawinata, the managing director of Ciputra Group, one of Indonesia's largest property groups, has been elected as the world president-elect of the International Real Estate Federation, or Fiabci, becoming the third Indonesian to hold the top position at the Paris-based organization open to all professionals in the property industry around the world.
Budiarsa will start to serve as world president next year and hold the position at the largest real estate organization in the world. Founded in 1951, Fiabci now has members in 72 countries.
Meanwhile, Rusmin Lawin, REI's deputy chairman for foreign relations, was also elected as the Fiabci Asia Pacific region president for the same period. The Asia Pacific region includes all Asean countries and China, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, India, Taiwan, Australia, and New Zealand.
Only two Indonesians served as Fiabci's world president previously. The first one was Ciputra, the founder of Ciputra Group, who held the position from 1989 to 1990. Five years later, Ferry Sonneville, an international badminton champion turned property businessman, became the second Indonesian serving as Fabci's world president.
Since then, there was 25 years gap before an Indonesian returned to the top position.
Rusmin said the Indonesian executives seek to make the best out of their Fiabci's serving term, especially in driving foreign investors into the Indonesian property industry.
"We will certainly focus on promoting Indonesian real estate to strengthen foreign direct investment through the Fiabci international network in 72 countries," Rusmin told the Globe on Tuesday.
Rusmin said they are particularly interested in promoting Indonesia's new capital project in East Kalimantan to their foreign colleagues.
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo announced the $33 billion project in 2019 to move the capital from Jakarta to a new area in East Kalimantan by 2024, just before his second term ended. The new capital would cover approximately 180,000 hectares. The government would cover 19 percent of the increased capital costs, with the rest coming from a local and foreign investor.
Seasoned Businessmen
Budiarsa, 66, is a seasoned property executives. He holds a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Plymouth Polytechnic in the United Kingdom and a master of business administration degree from Prasetiya Mulya Institute of Management in Jakarta.
Previously, from 2000 until 2015, he served as a director of in Ciputra Development, a Jakarta-listed property company. He was reappointed to the company's board of directors in January 2017, according to the company's website.
Currently, he is also a director of Damai Indah Golf and Ciputra Residence, and serving in various organizations, including Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), Indonesian Real Estate Broker Association (Arebi), and Indonesian Public Listed Companies Association (AEI). Budiarsa holds honorary president post at International Urban Development Association (INTA).
Meanwhile, Rusmin Lawin has been an avid investor and proponent of property technology Indonesia real estate industry. He currently holds key positions in Fiabci and Real Estate Indoensia (REI).
REI and Minister National Development Planning of Republic of Indonesia appointed Rusmi as the chairperson of a joint task force in charge for new capital city project.