Introducing Amir Amiruddin: chair of the INS Indonesia Board
Dr Amiruddin was a senior banker turned to become a startup founder with a passion for access to finance, health, education, social entrepreneurship and mentoring young people.
Amir co-founded INVESTREE- the leading SME fintech lending in Southeast Asia with 2 partners. His other entrepreneurial interests include investments in a leading green, last mile logistics solution, a SEO digital performance marketing, and a Montessori early-childhood education.
During his banking career, Amir held senior management positions in wealth management at SMBC Singapore, investment banking at Deutsche Bank, and Nomura in Singapore, AAA Securities, and Bakrie Finance in Jakarta and begun his career at British Gas in London. He interned at ING Bank in Amsterdam. Amir’s own academic journey reflects his commitment to education: Doctor in Business Administration from the University of Western Australia, Master in Economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam (full scholarship from Stichting Witteveen Dekker) and UWC Atlantic College UK (full scholarship).
Amir sits in the Board Trustee of Ksatria Airlangga Floating Hospital that serve people in remote islands in eastern Indonesia for free, the Board of Advisors to UWC’s Indonesia National Committee, sending Indonesian high school students to 18 United World Colleges (UWCS) globally on scholarships.
His passion for international understanding stems from a life changing experience at UWC Atlantic College where 90 nationalities lived in a residential boarding school for 2 years. His houseparents were from Holland, and so is his best friend and dorm-mate. Atlantic College was also where King Willem Alexander went to school. His scholarship at Erasmus was from a foundation set up by prominent Dutch (Prof Witteveen and Prof Dekker, RJ Nellisen) and Indonesians (Radius Prawiro, Arifin Siregar, Kwik Kian Gie). They remain his mentors. One of the requirements of the scholarship, a scholar must join a Dutch student club/fraternity. Amir was a member of Rotterdamsch Studenten Corps (het Corps). A unique requirement at first, but later on he appreciated as he learnt firsthand about his host country more intimately. His link with the Netherlands continued today as member Presidium of IKANED (NL alumni association) and now as Board of INS based on the belief that people to people interactions are the best way to enhance international and mutual understanding.
