The development of Rempang Eco City is one of the Indonesian government’s appropriate efforts to optimize labor absorption and competitiveness in Batam. As time goes by, economic growth in Batam and the Riau Islands slowly begins to increase and increase, because of this, efforts to develop Rembang Eco City are the right choice.
In 2022, economic growth in Batam reached 6.84 percent, higher than national economic growth which was only 5.31 percent. Based on this data, this means that the economy in Batam and the Riau Islands continues to experience good improvement. This increase, if balanced with the development of the Batam and Riau Islands Free Trade and Free Port Area (KPBPB), is getting better.
Regional economic recovery since the pandemic must be more focused, especially for affected areas. Batam and the Riau Islands have succeeded in improving their economies slowly. It would be wiser to maintain or improve it further. The reason is that there are big opportunities in several areas of Batam and the Riau Islands which are ready to become competitive for foreign regions.
Therefore, the Indonesian government is trying to carry out development in several areas, one of which is the Rempang area which is predicted to open up large employment opportunities. The Rempang area, which is called Rempang Eco City, is able to improve the welfare of local residents to restore their economy. The project also has a clear picture and direction of where it wants to go. Therefore, people do not need to worry because this area has great potential.
Questioning this development leads to the welfare of the people of Batam and the Riau Islands themselves. Because, with this optimization, certainty and ease of doing business will be increasingly wide open. Apart from that, the provision of skilled labor and several areas such as Rempang, Galang and Galang Baru which will be running will further facilitate opportunities to improve the economy of these areas.
The Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, in an effort to support the development of the area, held an event entitled Launching the Rempang Area Development Program KPBPB Batam, Riau Islands Province. It is hoped that this opening will be a good first step in developing the Rempang area as an area with high competitiveness.
The Rempang area has the potential to have high competitiveness in development from the industrial, tourism and service sectors. Nevertheless, the Rempang area can become a major investment target, especially for foreign investors. The reason is, with this development and investment, the opportunity to create jobs for local communities is also greater, so that regional and regional economic growth is also encouraged.
According to Coordinating Minister Airlangga Hartarto, the Rempang area, which is expected to become the main axis for developing industry, services and tourism, is in the Batam, Bintan and Karimun areas. This is because the region is directly adjacent to Singapore and Malaysia, which can encourage high competitiveness in the region. Not only that, the Coordinating Minister also hopes that later the development of the Rempang area can have a spillover effect in the surrounding area.
On the other hand, the Rempang area makes Indonesia have high competitiveness in the Southeast Asia region. How could it not be, Indonesia itself plays an important role in the ASEAN Chairmainship in 2023 which shows that our nation’s competitiveness can support economic productivity in other ASEAN countries. Therefore, this national strategic project must be completed immediately. Minister of Investment or Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Bahlil Lahadalia stated that currently Indonesia is competing in the global world or has the largest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in neighboring countries. For this reason, we are all competing to be able to give our best to restore and improve the economy.
The total investment plan that will be disbursed by PT Makmur Elok Graha until 2080 is approximately IDR 381 trillion. Of course, a figure of that size is also predicted to be able to absorb approximately 306,000 direct workers. The plan is that this investment will spread to medium-sized industry, manufacturing and logistics industry, integrated tourism areas, to residential areas and integrated services trade.
In the first phase until 2040, an investment of 29 trillion will be realized by absorbing approximately 186,000 workers through the development of the MICE tourism industry, manufacturing and logistics, and commercial housing and service activities. It is clear that the future mission of the Rempang area is of course to open up opportunities for the local community to improve their welfare. Coordinating Minister Airlangga also expressed his appreciation to all parties involved in planning the development of the Rempang Area. The goal in the future is that Batam, which currently sees Singapore lit up, will later change to Singapore seeing Batam lit up. Of course, to make this happen all requires cooperation between parties and the community. Because indeed, the goal to be achieved is to improve the welfare of citizens,
