SEZ Investment In 2023 Achieves IDR 177.5 Trillion

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Plt. Secretary General of the National Council for Special Economic Zones (KEK) Susiwijono Moegiarso reported that until the end of 2023 investment realizations of 20 SEZs had reached Rp177.5 trillion.

All 20 SEZs also absorb 117,492 workers, with 331 business actors.

"Meanwhile, in 2023, investment realization will increase by Rp. 66 trillion and the realization of employment absorption will increase by 57,005 people, and the number of business actors will increase by 89 companies," said Susiwijono during the 2023 Performance Achievement Evaluation SEZ National Working Meeting on January 16-17, 2024 in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Thursday, January 18.

In 2024, SEZ targets additional investment realization of IDR 77.5 trillion and additional employment absorption of 38,277 people.

Susiwijono explained, in 2023 the Secretariat General of the National Council of SEZ in collaboration with the Institute for Economic and Community Research, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Indonesia (LPEM FEB UI) conducted a study related to the positive impact of the SEZ on the regional economy and the national economy.

Some of the main conclusions that can be noted that in general most SEZs develop and perform well or very well, and overall investment in SEZs contribute positively to the economy with trends that tend to increase during the 2019-2023 period.

The industrial SEZ with a fairly good performance is in the Economic Growth Center (PPE) area, and has an investor anchor, a good industrial agglomeration rate, high competitive investment, and better levels of supporting infrastructure availability.

On the other hand, manufacturing SEZs that are in the outermost position or in areas that are currently transforming towards the manufacturing and service sectors, will have high competitiveness if they process natural resources or downstream natural resources.

This is also supported by the existence of national or international performances in tourism-themed SEZs which are considered to have a significant impact on accelerating the development of the SEZ, such as the Lido SEZ, Mandalika SEZ, and Tanjung Lesung SEZ.

"Overall, it can be concluded that investment in SEZs has a positive contribution to the regional economy and the national economy, with trends that tend to increase during the 2019 2023 period," explained Susiwijono.

Furthermore, Susiwijono conveyed that in order to improve the performance of the SEZ, the Secretariat General of the National Council of SEZs needed to evaluate the implementation of the SEZ in accordance with the decision of the KEK National Council Session in early 2023 and the agreement on the investment and labor realization plan submitted at the SEZ Working Meeting at the end of 2022.

Then coordination is also needed to take steps to resolve the problems faced, as well as ensure that the construction and development of the SEZ can run and achieve the planned targets.

One of the efforts to optimize SEZ development is through the coordination of debottlenecking issues of SEZ development and management with the Regional Government and related Ministries/Institutions as well as policy synchronization. Through debottlenecking the challenges of SEZ development so far, it is hoped that the future SEZ performance can be more optimal.

"The implementation of the SEZ is certainly inseparable from the role of relevant stakeholders, both at the central government and local governments. Seeing the potential of a number of current SEZs, the government will always support various steps to increase the effectiveness of SEZ management in Indonesia," said Susiwijono.