Batam investment forum to be held in NY

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.