Heaptalk, Jakarta — Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto recently inaugurated Rini Widyantini as Minister of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform (PANRB). Rini is the first woman in history to be entrusted with leading bureaucratic reform.
President Prabowo announced Rini’s appointment at the Presidential Palace on Sunday night (10/20) and officially swore her in at the State Palace, Jakarta, on Monday (10/21). Before being appointed as the Minister of PANRB, replacing Abdullah Azwar Anas, Rini had served as the Secretary of the Ministry of PANRB since 2022.
Born in Bandung on May 29, 1965, Rini began her career as a civil servant in 1990. In 1997, she was a Policy Analyst at the Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform. In 2008, she became Assistant Deputy for Economic Institutional Affairs at the Ministry, followed by Assistant Deputy for Economic Institutional Affairs I in 2009.
Her career at the Ministry of PANRB has been remarkable. In 2011, she was trusted to serve as Expert Staff to the Minister of PANRB for Legal Affairs. A year later, she was appointed Deputy for Institutional Affairs. From 2013 to 2021, she served as Deputy for Institutional Affairs and Governance at the Ministry of PANRB.
Rini Widyantini completed primary and higher education in Bandung. An alumna of Santa Angela High School, she continued her law studies at Padjadjaran University. She later earned a Master of Public Management from the Flinders University of South Australia. Her career, which she started within the Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform, has equipped Rini with the skills and experience needed to reform the bureaucracy. She has faced various dynamics and challenges throughout her journey.
A significant task awaits her as Minister of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform. Key responsibilities include governance reform, which involves sustaining government digitalization and public services, strengthening institutional structures, fostering synergy between bureaucratic institutions through integrated business processes, improving the professionalism and welfare of civil servants, and creating a more service-oriented work culture. Rini, who started her career as a bureaucrat, has now been entrusted to lead as the top official at the Ministry of PANRB.