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Dr. Yozua Makes, S.H., LL.M., M.M.

Founding and Managing Partner

Yozua is the Founding and Managing Partner of Makes & Partners.

He has more than 35 years of experience across corporate law, transnational mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, corporate finance, project finance, foreign investments, and complex cross-border commercial transactions. He is astute in advising investors and domestic and foreign-owned companies in cross-border project developments, including providing strategy and assistance in negotiating and drafting transactional, corporate, and commercial agreements spanning across various industries and sectors.

Yozua  is commended by clients for being a “razor sharp” lawyer with comprehensive skills in “almost all areas” (IFLR 1000, 2022) and adept in addressing legal, commercial, operational, financial, and even optical issues. He is also recognized as a “pre-eminent lawyer” equipped with “the gravitas, knowledge and network to drive commercial outcomes” (Chambers Asia-Pacific, 2019). A client also cites that Yozua is “one of the best lawyers in Indonesia” and is able to “explain fully in the eyes of business” (Legal 500, 2022). Yozua was recognized as Managing Partner of the Year at the prestigious 2022 Asian Legal Business (ALB) Indonesia Law Awards and shortlisted in the category of Southeast Asia Managing Partner of the Year at the 2023 Legal 500 Southeast Asia Awards that was held on 12 May 2023 in Singapore.

In 2014, Yozua spearheaded Makes & Partners into a successful strategic alliance with top tier Singapore law firm WongPartnership LLP. With their combined strengths, these two award winning law firms now jointly offer seamless excellent legal services for cross-border transactions across the Asia-Pacific region.

In 2020, Yozua was directly appointed by none other than the Indonesian President Joko Widodo, as one of the 5 highly distinguished members of the supervisory board of the Indonesian Investment Authority (Lembaga Pengelola Investasi or “INA”), the first ever Indonesian sovereign wealth fund tasked to manage the investments of the central government and optimize economic growth.  Led by the Minister of Finance as the Chairperson, Yozua is the only member of the board who belongs to the legal profession.  Yozua is also a member of the supervisory board of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (“KADIN”) and one of the first members of the National Committee on Corporate Governance.

Yozua is a member and Indonesia’s representative in the recently established Southeast Asia Advisory Panel of Temasek (TSEAP), Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund. The TSEAP comprises of prominent business leaders with deep knowledge of Southeast Asia to support Temasek’s investment strategy and projects in the region. This panel is similar to other regional panels that Temasek had set up for America (known as the TAAP) and Europe (known as the TEAP). As with the INA advisory board,Yozua is the only member of the TSEAP who is both a lawyer and a business man.

Yozua is also a distinguished associate professor with the Faculty of Law at the prestigious University of Indonesia and University of Pelita Harapan and the Founder and CEO of Plataran Indonesia, a homegrown Indonesian national pride hospitality company.