The investment appeal of Batam City showed a significant strengthening trend in the first half of this year. Throughout Semester I 2026, investment realization in the free trade zone successfully broke the IDR 29.89 trillion mark, surging by 62.75 percent compared to the achievement of the same period last year, which stood at IDR 18.37 trillion.
Batam Mayor and ex-officio Chairman of the Batam Free Trade Zone Authority (BP Batam), Amsakar Achmad, revealed that this surge is clear evidence of the high confidence of global business actors in Batam's stability and competitiveness. The synergy between the local government, BP Batam, the central government, and industrial players is considered the main key to creating a conducive business climate in the region.
This growth in investment was accompanied by an increase in real activities on the ground. The number of active projects increased by 32.82 percent to 15,826 projects, dominated by 8,894 projects in the construction phase and production projects which rose to 6,932 units. This corporate expansion had a direct impact on local labor absorption, which reached 40,423 people, while foreign labor utilization was recorded at 520 people.
Interestingly, Batam's investment structure has begun to shift toward higher added value. The average investment value per project grew to IDR 1.89 billion. Furthermore, capital flows are no longer dominated by traditional service sectors but have begun to expand strongly into high-tech manufacturing, the chemical-pharmaceutical sector, and industrial estate development.
In terms of foreign investment origin, Singapore still dominates with a contribution of IDR 10.89 trillion, followed by Hong Kong, South Korea, China, and the United States. In the real sector, investments in the machinery, electronics, and precision equipment industry recorded a realization that almost equaled other service sectors, amounting to IDR 6.07 trillion.
Despite the brilliant performance of manufacturing investment, the local government admits that strengthening the supporting service sector remains a task that must be resolved. BP Batam and the Batam City Government are currently designing acceleration strategies to increase the competitiveness of the service and logistics sectors to support the manufacturing industry ecosystem in a sustainable manner.
