Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono – Keynote Speaker

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (known as SBY) was the 6th President of Indonesia and the first directly elected President in the current democratic era.

During his two terms in office, Yudhoyono delivered what the World Economic Forum called “Indonesia’s golden decade”, a period between 2004-14 that was marked by democratic development, political stability, high economic growth and resilience, conflict resolution and robust international policies. Under his leadership, Indonesia became an emerging economy, a regional power, a G-20 member, and assumed important roles on issues ranging from climate change to post-MDG, terrorism to geopolitics, inter-faith issues to architecture.

Yudhoyono’s development has been exceptional, rising from a military officer to a 4-star general, then politician to cabinet minister then President, becoming among Asia’s most respected statesmen. During his time in office, Indonesia faced the destructive tsunami and a series of natural disasters, separatism, terrorism, financial crisis and more. But he managed to overcome these challenges with a steady hand. His country recovered from the natural disasters, the conflict in Aceh was peacefully and permanently resolved, terrorist groups were disbanded and detained, and the economy rebounded. Indonesia’s democracy steadily moved from strength to strength at a time when democracies around the world were in distress.

As President of the country with the world’s largest Muslim population, Yudhoyono has become a strong advocate for peaceful and moderate Islam, both internally and on the global stage. He devoted great efforts to develop closer relations between the Western and Islamic world. He also staunchly promoted and became an architect of military reforms, and championed Indonesia’s robust peace-keeping operations around the world.

With a Ph.D in agricultural economics, Yudhoyono relentlessly pursued his 4-track economic program of “pro-growth, pro-job, pro-poor, and pro-environment”. His development mantra was “sustainable growth with equity”.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is presently chairman of Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and, as head of Partai Demokrat, remains active in the politics of Indonesia.

In 2009, TIME Magazine, named him one of the 100 World’s Most Influential People. During an official visit to Australia, 9–11 March 2010, he was appointed an Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia and addressed Australian Parliament, the first Indonesian head of state to do so.
He was made an honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) by HM Queen Elizabeth II on 30 October 2012.