Investment leader sets its sights on doing big business with Jakarta
WEST JAVA ALREADY HAS STRONG LINKS ABROAD, PARTICULARLY WITH THE US, BUT IT NEEDS A NEW TOLL ROAD AND AN UPGRADED SEAPORT

R. NURIANA Governor of West Java Province

West Java’s proximity to the national capital means that the province has an important role to play in the future development of the country. Governor R. Nuriana expects his province to become the leading partner to Jakarta, by 2010, providing the city with its quality human resources and land space.
The most populous of all the country’s provinces, West Java is home to some 35 million people. The traditional homeland of the Sundanese people, it still retains a strong community feel in many parts, despite the march of progress and modernization.
The West Java towns of Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi, together with Jakarta, form a huge and still rapidly expanding industrial and urban concentration – commonly referred to as Jabotabek – and further integration is certain.

The economy is relatively diversified: manufacturing, services and industry are all widespread, although traditional agriculture-based activities, including forestry and fishing, remain dominant. Key local industries include textiles and clothing, electronics, agri-processing, furniture, iron and steel, and petrochemicals. The province is also an important oil and gas producer.
West Java has attracted a huge amount of domestic and foreign investment, including big name companies like US
energy giant Unocal Corporation and Japanese electronics group NEC.
The West Java Promotion and Investment Agency, based in the provincial capital Bandung, can assist with permits and applications and provide information to prospective investors.

SUNDANESE DANCERS are a big draw for tourists, as are the sun, great beaches, volcano visits and the white-water rafting.

“On a national scale, most domestic and foreign investments are in West Java,” says Mr. Nuriana. “We’re still number one in Indonesia in terms of investment.”
The US market, in particular, is very important to West Java, taking more than 20 percent of all exports and representing the single largest export destination. In 2001, exports from the province slowed to $2.89 billion, a drop of roughly 3.89 percent on the previous year, due in part to weaker US demand.

Aside from oil and gas, textiles and garments make up some 56 percent of the region’s exports. The electronics industry accounts for about 8.5 percent, illustrating the growing trend towards higher value-added production.
The key to West Java’s future economic expansion will continue to lie mainly on the dual track of upgrading rural agriculture and securing higher value-added processing and manufacturing business in the urban centers, primarily Jabotabek, plus the development of tourism.

According to Mr. Nuriana, the local government will play an important facilitating role in generating greater investor interest in the provision of roads, railways, air and sea routes.
The existing infrastructure is already very efficient. There are modern telecommunication facilities, a variety of energy sources, a double railtrack from Jakarta to Cikampek and fast toll roads from Bandung to Jakarta and to Cikampek.

But there are still big improvement plans. “I want to build new toll roads and also a harbor,” says Mr. Nuriana. “Nowadays all our export commodities have to be taken to Jakarta first. I want to bring all goods from our export outlets to Cirebon harbor. Of course, I still need to promote this idea to all our investors.”
As well as the creation of a modern harbor facility in West Java, there are proposals to improve links between the province and Jakarta. This means investment opportunities in new toll roads.
In the water sector, West Java has pioneered the way forward with a contract in place with an Australian company for the management of the province’s resources.

“I think water is important and will be a vital resource in the future and that’s why we have to manage it well,” says Mr. Nuriana. “I think we are the first province in Indonesia to have a water management system.”
At the heart of the province’s blueprint for the future, though, is the need to take care of the backbone of the community: the farmers and agricultural workers that underpin West Java’s long-term growth prospects.
Mr. Nuriana says that the development of the agricultural sector, which provides most ordinary people with their livelihoods, is a top priority.
As well as creating more farms to expand production, this means establishing an efficient market mechanism for the benefit of the farming community.
“It’s all about how we can secure better bargaining arrangements for the farmers so that they can sell their products at a market price and not depend on middlemen,” he says.

Tourism also has its role to play. This means promoting the image of West Java by participating in travel shows around the world as an alternative destination to Bali, the country’s premier and internationally respected resort.
“We need to promote our tourism, and try to do as well as Bali,” says Mr. Nuriana.
He believes that the province has plenty to offer visitors, who travel there for either business or pleasure. There has been an increased number of bookings for convention tourism, but it’s for vacationers that West Java holds the widest appeal. “There are volcanoes – where you can often reach the crater by car – or great beaches for sun-worshippers. We have everything from sea, sand and sun to the Sundanese traditional dances. And for the adventurous, there is also white-water rafting,” he says.