Vision to be leading trade center by 2010
BENGKALIS WANTS TO EXTEND EXISTING WEALTH INTO THE WIDER RURAL COMMUNITY

The regency of Bengkalis, Indonesia’s primary oil producer, is set to use the revenue from its rich energy reserves to fund ambitious development projects.
Located in the province of Riau, off the coast of central Sumatra, it lies close to the Malaysian peninsula. Bengkalis includes a scattered group of small offshore islands located in the Strait of Malacca, adjacent to Singapore.
The regency’s oil industry – in which US firms are big players – operates mainly offshore, and crude production represents as much as 40 percent of the country’s entire output (there is no associated gas production from the oil fields).
Since the Indonesian autonomy law was introduced, a percentage of this oil wealth – roughly 6 percent – is now re-directed back to the region, rather than going straight to the central government administration in Jakarta.

H. SYAMSURIZAL Regent of Bengkalis

According to Bengkalis regent H. Syamsurizal, these energy funds will underpin the local regime’s development goals of raising education standards, improving infrastructure and creating opportunities for small-scale local businesses. Mr. Syamsurizal also hopes that the regency – just a short hop away from the international financial center of Singapore – will become a
prolific trade hub.
“We will use this money to develop Bengkalis ,” he says. “I would like to make Bengkalis one of the most important trade centers in Asia. We will make it happen by improving the people’s welfare.

BENGKALIS is looking for added value from palm products.

“My vision is to make us independent of oil by 2010. When oil cannot be produced any more, we will need an alternative source of revenue to make sure that the people can have a decent standard of living.”
Although Bengkalis boasts some of the highest personal incomes in Indonesia because of its oil, this wealth does not extend throughout the regency, which maintains a fairly rural, traditional existence. Mr. Syamsurizal believes that this situation needs to be turned around.

The local government has identified education as one of the most important priorities under its all-inclusive ‘No-one Left Behind’ agenda. This universal access approach includes both formal and informal initiatives.
“In the formal sector, for example, we will give scholarships and free schooling, we will change the learning system, we will provide libraries, we will bring in teachers from Malaysia and Australia,” he says. “For the informal sector, we will build a ‘Balai Latihan Kerja’, which is like a training center for workers.”

There is strong local government support for the agricultural sector, livestock and fisheries, which are the traditional strengths of the region. There are also significant forestry resources – conducive to eco-tourism projects – and huge potential for agribusiness.

FREE ZONE will make Bengkalis attractive to foreign investors.

“Most of our people, about 55 percent of them, work in the agricultural sector,” says Mr. Syamsurizal. “They are still farmers and work mostly in small plantations cultivating paddy and vegetables.”
The other main employers in the Bengkalis regency, which covers an area of some 4,439 sq. miles, are the public services.
In the industrial sector, the government is actively promoting the development of small-scale businesses, especially with regard to improving the export profile of the region.

Mr. Syamsurizal says this will include the development of value-added products from its natural resources, such as palm oil and coconut oil, as well as the manufacture of handicrafts and other items. “We will provide a substantial fund for export-oriented projects,” he says.
Like so many other parts of Indonesia, there is considerable scope for the expansion of tourism, which is still relatively undeveloped.
“We have good forest areas and really nice beaches, ideal for vacationers,” he adds. “We have Rupat beach, on Rupat Island, which is located in the Malacca Strait, in international waters. There are 12 miles of beaches there, with white sands.”

Mr. Syamsurizal says that the objective is to invite foreign players to the region to assist the development process.
“We want to make Bengkalis an attractive place for investors,” he says.
The regency has produced a video and a guide book for investors to raise awareness and is looking to foster better links with companies, particularly from the US.
Mr. Syamsurizal wants foreign investors to come to Bengkalis because, he says, “This is an opportunity for them, not just for the Bengkalis regency.”
As part of the bid to attract investment, the government is set to put money into new infrastructure in order to improve electricity supplies, drinking water and transport systems, including enlarging the local port to world standards to cope with the expected increase in trade.

There is a plan to create a free-trade zone and, in cooperation with the province of Riau, to build a new international airport. Most of the funds will initially come from the regency and the provincial government, but private capital will be needed long-term.
Mr. Syamsurizal is fully aware of Bengkalis’s advantages. The difference between his regency and the Singapore entrepot across the Malacca Strait is that Bengkalis has many more natural resources. These combined with a free-trade zone will lead to the rise of a powerful trading center. It may take until 2010, or even 2020, but Mr. Syamsurizal says: “Above all, I believe that to build this country, we first have to be forward thinking.”