Transmigration Minister backs Rp88 trillion digital and AI investment in Batam

The Minister for Transmigration, Muhammad Iftitah Sulaiman Suryanagara, has expressed support for digital and artificial intelligence (AI) investments in Batam City, Riau Islands, amounting to approximately Rp88 trillion. He believes the AI Data Centre project in Nongsa will strengthen Batam’s position as one of Indonesia’s key hubs for digital and future technology economic growth. Iftitah stressed that economic development must not only generate investment figures but also create jobs, improve welfare, and offer hope for the public. ‘Investments must deliver tangible benefits to the people. The most important factor is not the investment value, but the extent to which the public can benefit from it,’ Iftitah stated in a written statement on Wednesday (27 May 2026). He affirmed the Ministry of Transmigration is ready to support workforce preparation required by industry through various training programmes to enhance capacity, skills, work discipline, and integrity. ‘We must ensure Indonesian society, particularly the youth, can be part of the global digital economic transformation. Therefore, competence and integrity must go hand in hand,’ he added. Iftitah further explained that transmigrant communities include not only the transmigrants themselves but also residents of transmigration areas and surrounding regions. Therefore, investments must generate broad economic benefits for the community. ‘If transmigration communities—comprising both transmigrants and local residents—can be absorbed into jobs from these investments, the multiplier effect will be significant. Unemployment will decrease, household incomes will rise, and poverty can be reduced,’ he said. He added this is a concrete implementation of Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution, as directed by the President of the Republic of Indonesia, that economic development must maximise benefits for public welfare. ‘Those benefiting from development must not only be entrepreneurs and investors, but also local communities,’ he stressed. Iftitah also praised Batam’s leadership for successfully building investor confidence and fostering optimism about Batam’s future as a national digital economic hub. ‘We commend Batam’s leadership, particularly the duo of Mr Amsakar Achmad and Ms Li Claudia Chandra, for building investor trust and optimism towards Batam,’ he said. He noted investors come not only for incentives but also due to confidence in leadership, stability, certainty, and service speed. Iftitah said national economic transformation requires synergy between investment, infrastructure, technology, and human development. ‘The ultimate goal is not just to bring in investment but to ensure the people grow alongside it. Society must become more prosperous, more jobs created, and Indonesian youth must become masters of their own country,’ he concluded.