Batam Free Port and Trade Zone (BP Batam) management is meeting with 23 South Korean investors on Tuesday, to discuss potential investment cooperation, Chief of Planning and Marketing Affairs of Batam Authority Johan Efendi stated.
“During the meeting, we will explain the Batam Single Window policy to the potential investors. The policy is expected to ease the work by entrepreneurs to process investment permit in Batam.
According to him, the Batam Authority plans to increase cooperation with South Korean investors, considering the significant amount of investment that the South Korean entrepreneurs placed in Batam.
Earlier, BP Batam had noted that new foreign investment target in Batam, Riau Island, is set at US$350 million for 2014.
“We are convinced that the target will be achieved based on the 2012 ? 2013 trends,” BP Batam spokesman Dwi Djoko Wiwoho added.
Dwi Djoko explained that despite the political heat ahead of the legislative and presidential elections in 2014, he was still optimistic that the target, which is the same as in 2013, will be achieved.
The main foreign investors in Batam are expected to come from Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, China, Taiwan and Japan.
The foreign investors are interested in conducting business mainly in electronic manufacturing, shipbuilding industry and oil and gas mining supporting industry, he stressed.
Service and trade sectors have also drawn a growing number of investors to Batam in 2012 and 2013, he added.
“We hope that security will remain favorable in Batam in 2014. Security is one of the most important factors to be considered by investors,” he explained.
In 2012, there are 48 new investment projects in Batam and 13 foreign companies that invested for expansion.
In 2013, there were 80 companies that invested in Batam including for the purpose of expansion.
