North Kolaka Opens Global Investment Pathways, Delegates from 10 Countries and Industry Players Attend in Surabaya
The North Kolaka Regency Government is beginning to open broader investment pathways to encourage the emergence of downstream industries based on local resources. This step was marked by the Kolaka Utara Industry, Trade and Investment Forum 2026, held at the Mercure Surabaya Grand Mirama on Monday (11/5/2026).
The forum, which ran from morning until evening, served not only as a regional promotion platform but also directly brought together the local government with investors, national companies, international trade institutions, and business delegates from 10 countries.
The Regent of North Kolaka, Drs. H. Nur Rahman Umar, M.H., presented the direction of the region’s economic development, now focused on the downstream processing of cocoa, coconut, fisheries, and nickel. The local government wants North Kolaka’s flagship commodities to no longer stop at raw materials but to develop into value-added industries.
“North Kolaka has vast and potential resources. What we want to build now is processing industries so that the economic benefits do not leave the region but can be directly felt by the community,” said Nur Rahman Umar.
He explained that cocoa is one of the sectors most encouraged because it has great potential to be developed into derivative products such as cocoa butter, cocoa powder, and cocoa liquor. In addition, the local government is also opening investment opportunities in coconut processing industries, fisheries product processing, and nickel-based sector development.
The forum featured several national figures in industry, investment, and economics. Among them were the Director General of Agro Industry from the Ministry of Industry RI, Putu Juli Ardika; the Director of Downstream Plantation Products from the Ministry of Agriculture RI, Kuntoro Boga Andri; the Director of Regional Promotion for Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific from BKPM RI, Saribua Siahaan; the Deputy of Bank Indonesia Southeast Sulawesi, Rahadian Triaji; and Chairman of Economic Diplomatic Cooperation, Charly Raya.
From the industry and business sectors, attendees included the President Director of PT Mars Symbioscience Indonesia, Marlyn Patta Sumbung; Director of PT Anugerah Kelapa Nusantara, W. Soedigwan from the Indonesia-China joint venture company; President Director of PT Industri Pesantren Indonesia, Edy Setyo Utomo; and chocolate product marketing practitioner Daniel from ICBC/Social Enterprise.
Dozens of national companies also explored cooperation opportunities at the forum. They came from sectors such as frozen food, seafood processing, charcoal, coconut, and chocolate products.
Some of the companies present included PT Mega Marine Pride, PT Anugrah Laut Indonesia, PT Philips Seafoods Indonesia, PT Indo World, PT Sham Golden Eagle, PT Sabah Nusa Global, and several charcoal processing and commodity export companies.
Notably, the forum was also attended by international trade delegates and business actors from Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, the United States, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, China, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Belarus.
These delegates came from the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (AUSTRADE), Netherlands Business Support Office (NBSO), EKONID Surabaya and the German House, Enterprise Singapore, the Consulate General of Japan in Surabaya, KOTRA South Korea, Busan Port Authority, Feihuang Group China, and representatives of the Honorary Consulate of Poland and Belarus.
Their presence opens new opportunities for North Kolaka to expand international market access while attracting investment in agribusiness and maritime downstream sectors.
In addition to investment presentations, the forum included business networking, business matching, cooperation explorations, and discussions on downstream industry development. Several investors were seen communicating directly with the local government and local businesses to discuss potential further collaborations.
The North Kolaka Regency Government hopes the forum will serve as the starting point for the birth of processing industries based on local potential that can increase the region’s competitiveness while opening new job opportunities.
“We want North Kolaka to be known not only as a commodity-producing area but as an area capable of building industries and competing in the global market,” he concluded.