Cilacap regency seeking new investors

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)