Meeting the Minister of Singapore, Airlangga Hartarto Discusses Two New KEKs in Batam

Editor: Lia Sisvita Dinatri

TRIBUNBATAM.id, BATAM - Two Special Economic Zones (KEK) in Batam, Nongsa Digital Park and Batam Aero Technic were discussed by the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Airlangga Hartarto with the Singaporean Minister of Trade and Industry, Chan Chun Sing. 

In the virtual meeting, Airlangga said that the two KEKs could take advantage of the facilities and incentives provided by the government. 

Nongsa Digital Park is built on an area of 166,45 hectares and an investment target of IDR 16 trillion and will absorb 16,500 workers. 

Meanwhile, Batam Aero Technic has a land area of 30 hectares with an investment target of IDR 6.2 trillion and is expected to absorb 9,976 workers. 

"The two new KEKs in Batam were built to encourage economic growth in the BBK area which is directly adjacent to Singapore.

It is targeted that by December 2020, the two KEKs will be able to take advantage of the facilities and incentives provided, "said Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Airlangga Hartarto, as quoted at the Indonesia-Singapore Ministerial Meeting (PTM) online. 

In the midst of the global Covid-19 pandemic, Indonesia and Singapore are committed to continuing to strengthen and enhance bilateral economic cooperation.

This step was taken in order to encourage sustainable economic growth of the two countries.

Coordinating Minister Airlangga Hartarto together with Minister Chan Chun Sing then also agreed on a progress report on the cooperation of 6 Working Groups (Joint Report to Leaders) to be reported in the next meeting of the two Heads of Government. 

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6 Working Groups (WG) include WG Batam, Bintan, Karimun (BBK) and Special Economic Zones, WG Investments, WG Transportation, WG Tourism, WG Employment, and WG Agribusiness.

Seeing the effects of the massive pandemic and as an effort to accelerate economic recovery, the Ministers underlined several agreements that had been produced by the two countries, including the ratification of the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT). 

Travel Corridor Agreement (TCA), signing of the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (P3B), Indonesia's Structural Reform Policy through the Job Creation Law.

"Indonesia-Singapore agreed to extraordinary efforts and come up with new policy breakthroughs to ensure that the strict health protocol aspects and economic recovery can go hand in hand," he said. 

Coordinating Minister Airlangga also conveyed the importance of a number of these agreements as an effort to improve the investment climate and increase Indonesia's economic competitiveness in the region.