Modern infrastructure available for investors

Modern infrastructure available for investors

Evolving Batam into an industrial area with international standards is not easy. But the Batam Industrial Development Authority (BIDA) is able to do it from the start of the development of the island into industrial bonded zone 30 years ago.

Modern infrastructure facilities such as seaports, airports, paved roads or highways are now available for investors who open their factories on the island.

Seaport

Batam Island covers an area of 415 square kilometers but with Rempang and Galang islands included into Batam, the total area of Batam will reach 715 square kilometers. Batam has seven seaports spreading through Galang, Telaga Punggur, Nongsa, Teluk Senimba, Sekupang, Kabil and Batu Ampar. Sekupang, Kabil and Batu Ampar have representative cargo seaports.

BIDA's Seaport Office has drawn up regulations forbidding the use of the seaports for non-seaport-related activities in order to ensure the comfort, convenience and the feeling of security on the part of the seaport users, particularly investors, as the primary consumers of the facilities. Under the regulations, the seaports have been maintained as an area mainly for seaport activities or Daerah Lingkungan Kerja Pelabuhan and an area mainly for the interest of seaport or Daerah Lingkungan Kepentingan Pelabuhan. The regulations have been prepared to make the seaports poised for the free trade era.

With regards to cargo port in Batam, local seaport management has paid a great deal of attention to Batu Ampar due to its space and capacity. With its open-cargo warehouse covering an area of 214,000 square meters, Batu Ampar is currently the biggest seaport in terms of open-cargo warehouse, compared with the other two seaports. The seaport has berthing capacity of 35,000 Dead Weight Tons (DWT) and a total wharf length of 1,250 meters.

Efforts continue to be made to increase the capacity of the seaport by, for instance, maintaining the existing facilities so that they can be utilized optimally.

Local seaport authority places security as its top priority because only with guaranteed security, can businesses operate in comfort. To curb unexpected activities at the seaport, for instance, the Directorate of Security of the Batam Authority, a unit tasked with safeguarding the Batam Authority's assets, collaborates with the local Police Office.

Kabil Seaport is situated in Nongsa District, about 30 km from Nagoya, the city center of Batam. The seaport, with the berthing capacity of 35,000 DWT, has been specially intended for the docking of ships that transport crude palm oil (CPO). The seaport can accommodate ships with a large draft. With its location far from the city center, Kabil Seaport is a more comfortable place to undertake seaport activities. The seaport is equipped with a 100,000 square meters of open-warehouse space and 1,890 square meters of closed-warehouse space, with a total wharf length of 420 meters. With the facilities and capacity, the Kabil Seaport as a cargo port, is ready to accommodate seaport activities.

Sekupang Seaport is busy with accommodating activities by vessels that transport electronic items from Singapore to be marketed in Batam. Compared to two other seaports, the Sekupang Seaport is less busy. The Sekupang Seaport has berthing capacity of 10,000 DWT and total wharf length of 177 meters. The seaport is also equipped with a 116,100 square meters of open-warehouse space and 42,240 square meters of closed-warehouse space.

Airport

The Hang Nadim International Airport has a 4,025-meter runway, the longest in Southeast Asia. The Hang Nadim runway is longer than the 3,650 meters at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta Airport and 4,000 meters at Singapore's Changi Airport.

The Airport has taken the name after a national Hero, who was a Malay admiral involved in a war between 1511 and 1528.

Occupying a total area of 1,600 hectares, the Hang Nadim Airport serves wide body passenger and cargo aircraft with daily flights to 16 destinations, including Jakarta, Jambi, Padang, Pekan Baru, Medan, Medan and Surabaya. Airlines that serve the airport are Garuda Indonesia Airways, Pelita Air, Jatayu, Mandala Airlines, Lion Air, Bouraq and Merpati Nusantara.

Hang Nadim Airport Director Imam Soelvan said that efforts were underway to launch programs to maximize the use of the airport and to provide the necessary equipment for the airport as a vital facility in a free trade area. One of the programs is to optimize the use of the airport. As the third airport in terms of facilities and equipment after the Soekarno-Hatta and the Ngurah Rai Airport (Bali), Hang Nadim has been promoted to domestic and international flight companies. Another program is to develop the airport into a retail airport/shopping center. "This will only happen to international airports. Efforts are now underway to develop the airport into a shopping center," Imam Soelvan said.

The management of Hang Nadim airport has also made efforts to develop it into an airport that supports aircraft offering international cargo flight services. Currently, the cargo flights are served by Mandala Airlines Type 300 A, with three flights weekly to Hongkong ; Sabang Merauke Air Charter (SMAC), with two flights daily to Singapore ; and Condiction Air, with four flights daily to Singapore. The SMAC and Condiction Air use smaller aircraft. However, with the busy flight activities, the airport is expected to meet the needs for continued flights via Singapore's Changi Airport.

Hang Nadim Airport received ISO 9002 Certificate for Quality Management System Standard in early April 2002. The award was issued by Lloyds Quality Insurance and is subject to evaluation once every six months.

Hang Nadim Airport's load factor reaches 3.3 million per year. The airport is also equipped with a sophisticated technology- based system enabling access to aircraft. The Soekarno-Hatta and the Ngurah Rai International Airports are the only other airports that have such a system in Indonesia.