Bekasi investment maintains steady pace
Wahyuana, Bekasi
Slowly but surely is an apt description of the growth of industry in Bekasi, a developing administration east of Jakarta.
Many industrial zone operators in Bekasi, Karawang and Cikampek subdistricts acknowledge that business is improving, despite the fact that the country has witnessed a decline in foreign investment nationwide.
"Although we cannot compare current conditions with the golden era from 1995 to 1996, when dozens of new investors invested in Bekasi in one year, we have nothing to be worried about," said Johannes Archiadi, deputy chairman of the Association of Industrial Zones Businesspeople (HKI).
In a recent interview with The Jakarta Post, Archiadi, who is director of PT Besland Pertiwi, which manages the 2,000 hectare Bukit Indah Town Industrial Zone in Cikampek, said that two foreign investors had opened factories in Bukit Indah Town during the first semester of this year.
He said that Japan-based automotive manufacturers Honda and Hino had invested some Rp 300 billion (US$33.7 million) in total.
Currently, there are 70 factories in Bukit Indah Town, which together employ more than 13,000 people.
Separately, Hendra Lesmana of MM 2100 Industrial Town told the Post that the industrial zone had six new occupants, while some of the existing ones had expanded their factories during the past six months. "Several industries are also ready to enter MM 2100, pending approval from the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM)."
Tjetjep Prasetya -- director of PT East Jakarta Industrial Park and manager of the East Jakarta Industrial Park (EJIP) in Cikarang -- added that the industrial zone had been fully occupied by 86 transnational firms since it opened in 1995.
"The future of investment in Indonesia is not gloomy -- don't be paranoid. Look at our industrial zone, which never loses an occupant," he remarked.
According to data compiled by West Java's BKPM, some 48 percent of Rp 10.8 trillion in investment in 2003 was invested in Bekasi's industrial zones.
As a supporting town for the capital city of Jakarta, Bekasi has become a strategic place for industrial development.
HKI executive Fahmi Shahab, said that few other smaller industrial zones had expanded to lure investors by offering more services.
"Many managers of industrial zones are not only selling land but leasing it short term, say three years, for example. Some others are leasing warehouses as well," he revealed.
The Jababeka Industrial Zone in Cikarang had earlier developed its 1,570 hectare area as an integrated community area. Many non- industrial facilities, such as low-cost housing, sports facilities, a trade center, a hotel, a recreational park and an amusement center, as well as a school, have been built to attract investors.
Industrial Zones in Bekasi
Name Management Area (in hectares) Occupants Workers
Bekasi Fajar PT Bekasi Fajar Industrial Estate 200 14 2,269
EJIP PT East Jakarta Industrial Park 320 86 35,350
Kawasan Industri Gobel PT Gobel Dharma Nusantara 54 not available n.a.
Bekasi International Industrial City PT Hyundai Inti Development 200 111 10,822
Jababeka Cikarang PT Kawasan Industri Jababeka Tbk. 1,570 1,008 150,000
Lippo Cikarang Industrial Park PT Lippo Cikarang Tbk. 1,000 306 13,350
MM 2100 Industrial Town PT Megalopolis Manunggal Ind. Dev. 1,000 136 47,250
Patria Manunggal Industrial Estates PT Patria Manunggal Jaya 220 n.a. n.a.
From various sources