Government Targets IDR 78 Trillion in Special Economic Zone Investment in 2024 – 2024-07-22 15:58:01

Acting Secretary General of the National Council of Special Economic Zones Rizal Edwin Manansang (Doc. Ist)

SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES (SEZs) have an important role in increasing investment so that they can contribute to equitable regional development.

Developed since 2009, SEZ has an attraction compared to other areas, namely that Business Entities and Business Actors will get ultimate facilities, both fiscal and non-fiscal, such as tax relief, ease of licensing, immigration, and others.

“Until Semester I 2024, SEZs have shown positive achievements and have successfully recorded cumulative investment realization worth IDR205.2 trillion from 22 SEZs. The government is optimistic that SEZs will be able to meet the investment target of IDR78.1 trillion by the end of 2024,” said Acting Secretary General of the National SEZ Council Rizal Edwin Manansang at the Office of the Secretary General of the National SEZ Council, Jakarta, Monday (22/7).

In addition, workforce absorption has also experienced a significant increase compared to the previous period with the cumulative workforce until June 2024 reaching 132,227 people.

This significant investment realization achievement cannot be separated from the role of the government through incentive policies that have been proven to attract both domestic and foreign investors.

“The provision of facilities and conveniences is indeed intended to increase Indonesia’s competitiveness in attracting investment so that it can optimize the import-export industry and other activities that have high economic value. With the entry of investment, it is expected to create new economic centers, and encourage the acceleration of regional development and create jobs,” said Edwin.

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This is in accordance with the objectives of developing SEZs, namely increasing investment, exports and import substitution, creating jobs, and establishing a breakthrough model for regional development through the development of industry, tourism, and other services.

Not only that, in its implementation, KEK also plays a role in increasing the country’s foreign exchange. For example, through KEK in the health sector such as Bali International Hospital in KEK Sanur and Apollo International Hospital, as well as the Proposed KEK, namely the Batam International Health Tourism KEK.

“So far, many people have sought medical treatment abroad, such as in Penang and Singapore. With the presence of international standard hospitals in Indonesia, people will no longer seek medical treatment abroad and this will greatly help save foreign exchange,” explained Edwin.

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Meanwhile, Acting Head of the Investment, Cooperation and Communication Bureau of the National Special Economic Zone Council, Bambang Wijanarko, explained that from the results of the Special Economic Zone Performance Evaluation Meeting for Semester I 2024, there were seven Special Economic Zones that had realized investment targets of more than 40% in Semester I 2024, namely Mandalika Special Economic Zone, Sanur Special Economic Zone, Kendal Special Economic Zone, Lido Special Economic Zone, Nongsa Special Economic Zone, Singhasari Special Economic Zone, and Gresik Special Economic Zone.

For workforce achievement, KEK Gresik, KEK Sei Mangkei, KEK Nongsa, KEK Galang Batang, KEK BAT, and KEK Lido reached the workforce target of more than 40% in Semester I 2024.

“During the first semester of 2024, SEZ recorded an investment of IDR 31.4 trillion or 40% of the 2024 target, up 7% compared to the achievement in the same period last year. In addition to the increase in investment, SEZ also recorded the absorption of 15,229 workers or 39% of the 2024 target, and there were an additional 36 business actors,” said Bambang.

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In addition, several SEZs contribute significantly and have a positive impact on the regional economy, through the absorption of labor support for MSMEs, infrastructure growth, and others.

This is proven by the results of the LPEM UI study related to the positive impact of SEZs on the regional economy and the national economy. Several main conclusions are that in general most SEZs are developing and performing well and overall investment in SEZs makes a positive contribution to the economy.

As a step to disseminate policies, achievements, and impacts of the implementation of SEZs, the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs as the Chairperson of the National Council also submitted a SEZ Achievement Performance Report to the President-elect/Minister of Defense while simultaneously giving the best SEZ award to SEZ Gresik for the Industrial SEZ and SEZ Mandalika for the Service SEZ. (Ant/N-2)