Batam investment forum to be held in NY
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The American Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (AICC) in cooperation with the Batam Industrial Development Authority (BIDA) will hold an investor forum in New York on Oct. 26 to highlight, among other things, the potential of the Batam Island Free Trade Zone.
According to Bloomberg, the forum will also discuss local autonomy and other important developments in Indonesia, including on the country's successful first-ever direct presidential election.
Speakers will include former Indonesian ambassador to the U.S. Arifin Siregar, and BIDA chairman Ismeth Abdullah.
The Indonesian Consulate General in New York will also organize one-on-one meetings between interested investors and members of the Batam delegation.
The forum comes at a crucial time for Batam and existing investors on the island as the outgoing government failed to reach an agreement with the House of Representatives on the status of Batam as a free trade zone (FTZ).
Last month, the House endorsed its own version of a bill conferring FTZ status on Batam Island, despite the opposition of the government, which has proposed its own legislation on the issue.
Without the government's approval, the law cannot tale effect, creating further uncertainty for investors on the island, which since 1978 has been promoted by the government as an industrial bonded zone to attract foreign investors. It is now one of the most attractive manufacturing and industrial locations in the Southeast Asia region, playing host to some 600 foreign companies and absorbing over US$3 billion in foreign investment.
Batam, which is located about 30 kilometers southeast of Singapore, is also the country's second most popular foreign tourist destination.
One of the disputed articles in the government-proposed bill concerns limiting FTZ status to only specified industrial areas on the island, to be known as "enclave FTZs", while the House- proposed bill grants the whole of Batam Island full FTZ status. The government has argued that extending full FTZ status to the whole Batam would cause envy in other regions not privileged with FTZ status.