Cilacap regency seeking new investors
JAKARTA (JP): The administration of the Cilacap regency, Central Java, launched a business presentation yesterday to attract more investors to the area.
In a business luncheon attended by Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Soesilo Soedarman, Minister of Cooperatives and Small Enterprises Subiakto Tjakrawerdaya and a number of noted businessmen, officials from the regency said that investment opportunities in Cilacap include the sectors of tourism, sea transportation, horticulture, fishery, husbandry, timber, trade and manufacturing.
While Cilacap was once an important cultural attraction outside of Yogyakarta, the area is now less developed than Yogyakarta, Soesilo told reporters after attending the luncheon.
A trip between Cilacap and Yogyakarta takes about 4.5 hours by land.
"But there's a good chance now offered by Cilacap. The country's seaports in Jakarta and Surabaya are getting crowded. Cilacap has a natural seaport which can be developed to link with the Middle East, Australia and other countries," Soesilo said.
"In the tourism sector, facilities for tourists are being developed in areas between Pangandaran in West Java and Cilacap, both at the southern coast of Java," he said. "In Pangandaran, visitors can see both the sunrise and sunset."
The executive manager of the Cilacap office of the Investment Coordinating Board, Rahardjan Sudjani, said that companies interested in investing in the hotel industry will have several incentives.
"We are ready to support hotel investors. Especially foreign investors, who will be able to import supporting equipment such as elevators and electricity generators without any levies," he said.
He said that in the future, Cilacap will need more three-star rated hotels because the town's tourism industry and commercial business will be progressing rapidly.
Currently there are six star-rated hotels in Cilacap in addition to 34 non-star-rated ones.
Cilacap is about 197 kilometers from Yogyakarta and some 435 kilometers from Jakarta.
Merpati Nusantara serves the Jakarta-Cilacap route four times per week, while the government is considering increasing the air service.
The administration of Cilacap launched a similar measure here two years ago after completing a potency study in 1992.
Data from the Investment Coordinating Board show that in the period between 1967 and July 1995, the government approved 13 domestic investment projects worth Rp 2.3 trillion and four foreign investment projects worth US$1.6 billion in Cilacap. (icn)