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BATAM – The issuance of Presidential Regulation (Perpres) No. 21 of 2025 on the Structuring of Land Provision in the Batam Free Trade Zone and Free Port (KPBPB) is being hailed as a positive development for Batam’s economic growth.

This assessment was shared by the Indonesian Employers’ Association (APINDO) Batam.

Chairman of APINDO Batam, Rafki Rasyid, stated that while the tenure of Amsakar Achmad and Li Claudia Chandra as Head and Deputy Head of the Batam Free Trade Authority (BP Batam) is still very recent, their initial steps have been promising and deserve recognition.

“Their effective working period has only been 19 days. It’s still too early to fully assess their policies. As mentioned, even the appointments of directors and managers at lower and middle levels haven’t been completed yet. Batam is not yet fully operational, and we can understand that,” said Rafki on Friday (April 18, 2025).

He added that the initial initiatives by Amsakar and Li Claudia were encouraging. In particular, the direct engagement between BP Batam’s leadership and local business actors was seen as a constructive move.

“We appreciate how Mr. Amsakar and Ms. Li Claudia immediately gathered business players in Batam. This creates an opportunity for both sides to understand each other’s positions and challenges,” he said.

Commenting on Presidential Regulation No. 21 of 2025, Rafki regarded it as evidence of Batam’s success in convincing the central government to grant broader authority to the local administration.

“The issuance of this Perpres is a good signal. It indicates that BP Batam has successfully convinced the President to delegate greater authority to better manage and develop Batam,” Rafki explained.

He expressed hope that the regulation would be followed by other supporting national policies aimed at accelerating licensing processes and reducing bureaucratic hurdles.

“Hopefully this Perpres will be followed by new central government policies that enable faster, more streamlined licensing processes and eliminate bureaucratic bottlenecks that typically involve the central government,” he added.

Rafki stressed that in the future, licensing matters related to Batam should be handled directly at the local level without the need for approval from Jakarta-based ministries.

“If it’s a matter in Batam, it should be handled by BP Batam. We hope that more Presidential Regulations or other national policies will be introduced that truly provide special treatment for businesses in Batam,” he said.

He also emphasized that without special privileges and central government support, Batam will find it difficult to compete with neighboring countries such as Singapore.

“We know that if Batam is not granted privileges for its business sector, it will struggle to compete with neighboring countries. With more authority, we will be stronger and better prepared to compete. We hope that eventually, Batam can catch up to or even match Singapore’s progress,” Rafki concluded.

Source: batam.tribunnews.com