Surabaya City Government Intensifies AI-Based Digital Innovation to Pursue Rp43 Trillion Investment Target
The Surabaya city government is accelerating the investment climate in the City of Heroes to pursue a realisation target of Rp43 trillion in 2026. This ambitious target has risen significantly compared to achievements in previous years, which ranged from Rp35 trillion to Rp36 trillion.
Surabaya Mayor Eri Cahyadi emphasised that the city government’s main strategy to reach the target is to rely on transparency and speed of digital licensing services. One of these is through the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and the provision of an Investment Clinic.
“This digital innovation was built to provide legal certainty and efficiency. Applicants can track licensing documents directly from their mobile phones, while our AI system enables real-time monitoring from the workspace. When there are no costs outside the provisions, investor trust will be built and investment will automatically move,” said Eri after receiving the Business Implementation Acceleration Team (PPB) from the Ministry of Investment and Downstreaming/BKPM in the Mayor’s Office on Thursday (20/8/2026).
To provide comprehensive assistance for business actors, the Surabaya city government relies on two key features: an AI-based licensing system that facilitates real-time and transparent tracking of document status directly through investors’ smartphones, and a dedicated assistance service for investors that includes analysis of Break Even Point (BEP) calculations and estimates of project construction duration.
Although this service is included in the national-level assessment radar, Eri stressed that investment acceleration is aimed entirely at driving the economic wheels of residents. According to him, awards are merely a bonus, while the main goal is reducing poverty and stunting in Surabaya.
“Awards are a bonus. Our main target is for investment to move, poverty and stunting to decrease, and the community to prosper,” he asserted.
The advantages of this digital system were also directly tested by the Ministry of Investment and Downstreaming/BKPM in the assessment for the 2026 Investment Service Award (ALI).
Director of Business Implementation Cooperation at BKPM, Hasyim Daeng Barang, appreciated the alignment between the innovation presentation and actual conditions on the ground.
“We are here with the Deputy Chairman of Kadin to check whether the facilities and services presented match the data in the field. The assessment focuses on two main aspects: the performance of the Investment and One-Stop Integrated Services Office (DPMPTSP) and the PPB,” explained Hasyim.