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Batam mayor’s appointment as BP Batam’s head gets mixed reactions
As many as 71 manufacturing companies from various countries currently operate with a total of about 80,000 workers in the Batamindo Industrial Park.
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Workers gather outside one of the factories in the Batamindo Industrial Park in Batam, Riau Island. The appointment of the Batam mayor as the ex-officio head of the Batam Indonesia Free Trade Zone Authority (BP Batam) has received mixed reactions from investors. (JP/Fadli)
T
he Batam Indonesia Free Trade Zone has seemingly been freed from bureaucratic limbo since Batam Mayor Muhammad Rudi was appointed the ex-officio head of the Batam Indonesia Free Trade Zone Authority (BP Batam) earlier this year as part of an effort to abolish dualistic authority on the island.
Despite the much-lauded move, however, industry stakeholders expressed skepticism regarding the mayor’s ability to regulate investment in Batam, which has remained in the central government’s domain.
The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) chairman in Riau, Makruf Maulana, said he was upset with the government’s decision to appoint the Batam mayor to be the ex-officio head of BP Batam.
“We believe the decision was premature at best and loaded with vested political interests at worst. BP Batam should have remained under the control of industry professionals who are more than capable of improving the region’s competitive edge to attract more investments,” Makruf told The Jakarta Post last Friday.
He said he was worried that export and import regulations in BP Batam would end up being at the whim of the government now that the Batam mayor was the ex-officio head.
“A regional head’s capacity to go on overseas business trips is limited because of Home Affairs Ministry restrictions. How can the Batam mayor, who now also serves as the BP Batam head, lobby foreign investors if he’s unable to travel abroad frequently?” Makruf added.
He said the Kadin in Riau and the Batam administration had agreed to re-evaluate the government’s decision to put the mayor in charge of BP Batam on legal grounds before they went on to file a lawsuit.
