Airlangga Reveals Batam's Attractiveness For The Digital Industry Ecosystem

Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs (Menkop UKM) Teten Masduki. (Photo: Doc. ANTARA)

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said it was very important to make Batam the main hub for the international and domestic fiber optic cable network.

This supports the Data Center investment which requires more new fiber optic cables and route diversity that can be guaranteed by the cable landing point at Nongsa Digital Park, Batam.

This was conveyed by Airlangga to the CEO of BW Digital Mr. Ludovic Hutier, CTO and MD PDG Mr. Aser Ling, and the MD and Head of Data Center GAW Capital Mr. Kok-Chye Ong during a working visit to Singapore to attend a number of meetings on the 2024 Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) agenda.

Batam can be a very competitive location for the digital industry ecosystem. With the total investment included in the Data Center development in Batam reaching around US$3 billion, the construction of a fiber optic cable network is an advantage in connectivity in the development of the Data Center in Batam," said Airlangga in his statement, Wednesday, June 5.

In addition to licensing problems, the availability of water and environmentally friendly energy, Airlangga conveyed in front of entrepreneurs that there is an additional hydro power in Sumatra that produces hundreds of MWs of environmentally friendly energy that can be supplied to Batam to increase the capacity of the Data Center which is moderate and will be built.

According to Airlangga, the hydro power energy supply will be a game changer as well as increase Batam's appeal to become an investment destination.

On this occasion, it was also revealed that the construction of the Data Center in Indonesia has also been carried out in various cities such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Cikarang, to Pekanbaru.

Airlangga said that the preparation of digital talent is also an important thing so that future digital technology management can be carried out properly.

The presence of various foreign digital talent academies in various cities in Indonesia is also expected to meet the need for the availability of digital talent.

"talent development activities are also focused on providing the right skills to Indonesian talents to be able to manage AI," Airlangga concluded.