Buleleng Needs Connectivity and Downstream Processing to Promote Equitable Growth in Bali

Buleleng Regency in Bali needs stronger connectivity, quality tourism and greater value added from downstream processing in the marine, fisheries and agricultural sectors to promote more equitable economic growth across the island.

“Bali’s current economic challenge is that activity remains concentrated in the south,” said Putu Ayu Reika Nurhaeni, assistant for economic and development affairs at the Buleleng Regency administration, in Singaraja on Friday.

She said developing northern Bali was part of a broader strategy to strengthen the island’s economy and ensure that the benefits of development were felt across all areas.

To support economic growth in northern Bali, Bank Indonesia’s Bali Representative Office held Balinomics, a discussion forum intended to catalyse cooperation among stakeholders on development and more even economic growth across the province.

Achris Sarwani, head of Bank Indonesia’s Bali Representative Office, stressed the importance of adding value to leading regional commodities, particularly in northern Bali, as a way to narrow economic disparities and create more jobs.

The concentration of economic activity in southern Bali is reflected in the fact that the Sarbagia area—Denpasar, Badung and Gianyar—accounts for 58 per cent of Bali’s gross regional domestic product (GRDP).

Investment is also concentrated in the three regencies, amounting to Rp30.49 trillion, or 81.64 per cent of the province’s total, during 2026.

Businessman Alisjahbana Haliman, who took part in the discussion, said Bali had many leading commodities in demand in domestic and international markets, including coffee, seaweed and grapes.

However, he said, a key challenge in increasing their added value was strengthening the value chain, including quality assurance, reliable supplies and broader market access.

Buleleng is known as a producer of plantation and horticultural goods, as well as fisheries products.

Southern and northern Bali are currently connected by a short-cut road project. Work has been completed at several points, with the remaining sections still under construction.

However, a railway remains one of the key southern-to-northern connectivity links yet to be realised, despite its inclusion in Bali Provincial Regulation No. 2 of 2023.

Article 20, paragraph 2 of the regulation provides for a railway network in the Sarbagia urban area, a northern-to-southern Bali corridor and a circular route around the island.

A plan to build a battery-powered electric tram is currently at the cooperation-signing stage between the Bali Provincial Government, Badung Regency Government and state railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), scheduled for Tuesday, 1 September 2026.

The tram is planned for southern Bali, connecting Ngurah Rai Airport with Canggu, at an estimated cost of Rp2 trillion.