Growing up in Riau and Jakarta, Sandi, the nickname of Sandiaga Uno, spent his higher-education years at George Washington University and Wichita University. After working in the US for a while, Sandi went back to Indonesia and co-founded several investment companies, like Recapital Advisors and Saratoga Investama. His political career started when he became active in the Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association (HIPMI) and eventually became its chief from 2005 to 2008. Rising higher, he was elected vice-governor of Jakarta in 2017. Before finishing his tenure, he joined Prabowo Soebianto for the 2019 presidential race, with Sandi as the vice-president candidate. After losing the election, Sandi formed the cross-sector volunteer group Indonesian Volunteers United to focus on pandemic countermeasures. In late 2020, he officially replaced the incumbent Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Whisnutama. As Indonesia bounces back from the aftereffects of the Covid-19 pandemic, Sandi is revitalising the tourism sector, with programmes such as Desa Wisata destinations around Indonesia, and empowering the SMEs sector.