Tangerang offers secure home for investors

Tangerang offers secure home for investors

The regional autonomy law, which was introduced two years ago,
has woken up most of the regencies in the country from their long
slumber.

Tangerang regency, one of four regencies in the newly
established Banten province, is no exception. With 2.73 million
people, 29 districts and 340 subdistricts, the regency is one of
the favorite destinations for both local and foreign investors.

The regency, which celebrates its 59th anniversary today
(December 27), imposes practically no restrictions on business
activities, except those banned by the central government.

Opportunities for small, medium and large-scale manufacturing
industries, housing estates, trade and services, as well as
shopping centers, tourism, agribusiness and fishing are wide
open, because under the existing master plan, about 40 percent of
the total land area of 111,038 hectares has been designated for
such business activities.

At present, the regency is home of hundreds of small, medium
and large-size firms, which are mostly involved in the production
of electronic goods, leather products, healthcare products and
other consumer goods.

The regency has provided about 8,000 hectares of land for
industrial activities. About 3,000 hectares of this land, which
cover several districts including Cikupa, Balaraja, Pasar Kamis,
Serpong and Legok, have been designated for the development of
industrial estates.

As of December 2002, only 2,500 hectares of the existing
industrial land allocation has been used.

The regency's industrial activities have rapidly grown thanks
to its strategic location and unlimited supply of manpower. This
has significantly helped spur the regency's economic growth,
which reached 9.26 percent in 1997. Although the onset of the
country's monetary crisis in early 1998 slowed down business
activities, economic growth remained high at 5.09 percent. Growth
is projected to increase to 5.7 percent this year and 6.7 percent
in 2003 as the economy recovers.

The economic crisis also resulted in a decline in the value of
the regency's exports. The value of exports, which reached as
high as US$78.49 million in 1999, dropped to $61.35 million in
2000 and $49.11 million in 2001. However, total investment
increased to about Rp 1 trillion in 2001 from Rp 29.5 billion. A
large part of this investment went on the development of small
and medium-scale industries.

The Tangerang regency administration is working hard to
further stimulate the economy by focusing on the development of
infrastructure and on the simplification of investment licensing
procedures.

Tangerang's regent Agus Djunara and his assistants have, for
example, initiated and laid down new development concepts to
further encourage industrial activities in the regency. With the
new concepts, the regency will focus on the development of
infrastructure, such as new toll roads and alternative roads as
well as sea ports both for trade and fishing activities.

With better infrastructure, more investors, both domestic and
foreign, are expected to come to take advantage of the business
opportunities the regency has to offer, especially in the
northern coastal area.

"I would appreciate it and give my full support if investors
were willing to develop tourism resorts along the
northern coastal area," Regent Djunara said.

According to Djunara, the coastal area in the north of
Tangerang is quite suitable for tourism and modern housing
complexes. He said that the regency had long planned to transform
several coastal districts such as Kosambi, Teluk Naga, Paku Haji
and Mauk into satellites cities. But to put the idea into
practice, the administration needed to collaborate with
private investors.

"We will soon begin the construction of a trade seaport in
Tanjung Pasir in Teluk Naga district along with the construction
of a 50-kilometer tollway that will give easy access to the
planned port from the Soekanrno-Hatta International Airport
tollway, the Jakarta-Merak tollway and Serpong township," he
said.

In order to attract investors to develop the coastal area
into tourism resorts and warehousing complexes, as well as to
stimulate the local people's business activities, the regency
will also widen and upgrade the existing 60-kilometer road
linking Dadap beach in Kosambi district with Serang regency. The
average width of the road will be about 40 meters.

He said the planned satellite township that would occupy
several areas in Kosambi, Teluk Naga, Paku Haji and Mauk
districts would be developed in stages.

According to Djunara, investors can establish any type of
business as long as it is not against the existing master plan,
which has designated the area for various purposes such as
tourism, farming, warehousing, trade and services.

Meanwhile, the secretary to the regency administration,
Ismet Iskandar, said that Tangerang regency could be the safest
place for investors. Hostile reactions against foreigners had
never taken place in the regency. "No hostile actions by the
local people against foreigners have ever taken place here," he
explained.

He said that the regency administration and the local
legislative council would further work hand in hand in turning
the regency into not only a safe place to live but also a safe
place for investment.

"Tangerang is not Jakarta, or any of the other large cities in
the country, Tangerang is safe and peaceful. We guarantee the
security of foreign assets, and the expatriates who work in
Tangerang," Ismet said.

Since regional autonomy went into effect in January 2001, the
administration has revised many regulations in order to
facilitate foreign investors in investing in the regency. Many of
the new regulations have had a positive impact on industrial
activities.