New provinces vow better policy to lure investors
New provinces vow better policy to lure investors
JAKARTA (JP): Regional administrations of newly established
provinces Banten, Gorontalo, and Bangka Belitung pledged to
formulate a better investment policy to compete with other
provinces in attracting investors.
Johni Triana, the head of the Banten province Economic and
Development Board said that the current administration was still
mapping out potential sectors for investment along with examining
its problems.
"We have to make a careful study so that our investment policy
provides business assurance for investors," he said in a seminar
on the investment prospects of the three provinces held by
Harvest International consulting firm in Jakarta on Thursday.
Although Banten is much more advanced than the other two new
provinces, the province still has to work harder to ensure that
it will be able to compete with more established provinces in
attracting investors.
He said that Banten, formerly part of West Java province, had
to improve its roads especially in rural areas to encourage
investors to invest in the province's agricultural, mining and
tourism sectors.
According to Johni, the province, which hosts several major
industrial giants such as PT Krakatau Steel and PT Chandra Asri,
is also a strategic location for farming and mining activities.
In addition to easy land transportation access from Jakarta
and Sumatra island, the province has several seaports and
airports.
The Soekarno Hatta Airport, and the interisland seaports in
Merak, Cigading, Anyer, Bojonegara and Labuan are located in the
province.
Compared to Banten, the two other new provinces, Gorontalo and
Bangka Belitung seem to be less fortunate.
Nelson Pomalingo, the head of Gorontalo province Regional
Development Planning Board said infrastructure in the province
was still inadequate to support business activities.
The province has three interisland seaports and an airport
able to accommodate a 28-seat Fokker-28 aircraft but conditions
were still far from perfect to fulfill investors' needs, he said.
"That's why the improvement of the seaports and airports are
our main priority. We hope they can be upgraded within two
years," he told the seminar.
Gorontalo, which became a province in February this year after
separating from North Sulawesi province, has many things to offer
to investors.
According to him the province is a good location for
agribusiness such as cocoa and coconut plantations. The province,
which has a 400-kilometer coastal area, is also good for tourism
and fishing activities.
"Several export-oriented companies operate in Gorontalo," he
said, adding that coconut oil and fish production sectors gave a
large contribution to the province's revenues,
Meanwhile Amir Muchasim, Bangka Belitung Island's governor
said that the province's biggest problem was the lack of
electricity supply.
He said that the province, which was formed early this year
after separating from South Sumatra, needed US$200 million to
build a new power plant.
"We have proposed the building of the power plant to state-
owned electricity company (PLN) but there is no response yet to
the proposal," he told The Jakarta Post.
He added that another concern of the administration was to
guarantee security in protecting ships from attacks by pirates
who were widespread in the provinces seas.
Bangka and Belitung, the world largest's tin producer, has
great economic potential.
Amir said the province's coastal areas could be developed into
tourism sites while its productive land would be utilized for the
development of oil palm plantations.
The province is supported by two seaports in Bangka, one in
Belitung, and two airports in Pangkalpinang, Bangka and in
Tangjung Pandan, Belitung.
Commenting on investment procedures, administration officials
in all three provinces said that they had established a special
board to simplify procedures.
The board will also provide incentives to encourage investors
to invest in the provinces. (05)