Karimun FTZ eyes Malaysian and Singaporean investors

By Mohd Khairi Idham Amran

KUALA LUMPUR, July 4 (Bernama) -- Karimun Free Trade Zone (Karimun FTZ) Authority is keen to attract investment from Malaysia and Singapore especially in the maritime and oil and gas areas.

Head of Karimun FTZ Authority H Chendra said the FTZ location at the southern Straits of Malacca and in close proximity to Malaysia and Singapore gave it an edge over three other Indonesian FTZs, namely Batam and Bintan in Riau, and Sabang in Acheh.

“All four FTZs have similar regulations and incentives but we have an advantage in terms of our location, which is only one hour away by sea transportation from Johor and one and a half hours from Singapore,” he told Bernama on the sidelines of the Fourth Annual Indonesia Investment Forum here today.

He said among incentives offered by the Karimun FTZ were duty-free building materials, value-added tax exemption for operations, as well as incentives for building and land tax depending on the type of investments

Designated as an FTZ in 2008, Karimun FTZ covers an area of 9,666.012 hectares (ha) comprising Karimun Besar Island (8,862.012 ha) and Karimun Anak Island (804 ha).

To date, there are 164 companies operating in the FTZ with investments totalling RM6.609 billion.

Meanwhile, Indonesia Investment Promotion Centre Singapore director Ricky Kusmayadi said Malaysia was Indonesia’s fourth-largest investor behind Singapore, Japan and China for the period of 2013 to 2018.

He said investments from Malaysia to the country for the period were worth US$9.67 billion (US$1=RM4.13) with 50 per cent of the companies investing in Java Island and tertiary sectors making up 62 per cent of the investments.

-- BERNAMA