About

General counsel of Coca-Cola Amatil Indonesia since 2015, prior to which he was head of legal and corporate services with PT MDN for three years, Clemens Selestiyanto’s 24-year career has given him a number of highlights to look back on. The most recent of these came in 2018, when he was part of a major solar panel and liquid sugar processing project on behalf of Coca-Cola Amatil Indonesia. ‘These projects have shaped my commercial acumen, risk management, construction knowledge as well as my negotiation skill’, he says. He also speaks fondly to the improvements he has made to the legal team since taking over legal responsibilities at the company: ‘Before my time, the legal department was reactive; we only responded when asked or when there were problems. Now it has changed in a number of ways: We partner with the business, and pro-actively approach them and offer to make improvements. We have rolled out training programs to make sure the business runs in compliance with our code of conduct, rules and regulations, delivering extensive trainings in a number of areas; we are much more aligned with the legal teams in the Asia Pacific region and share knowledge with colleagues in different countries; and I have developed the legal team with opportunities to involve them in projects and additional training’. The team is now a far more effectively integrated component of the business. ‘Overall’, he concludes, ‘our current legal department is a partner to the business. We provide legal advice with a commercial approach’.