Minister Bahlil Calls KIT Batang Phase One Sold Out

Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia. (Photo: ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Investment Minister/Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Bahlil Lahadalia said the total land in the Batang Integrated Industrial Estate (KIT), Central Java, in the first phase of development has been sold out and is now entering the second phase of 1,000 hectares of development.

Bahlil explained that the industrial area was first discovered on June 14, 2020.

"Exactly June 14, 2020, I came by motorbike, at the direction and orders of the President, to anticipate when the trade war between China and America at that time, there was no relocation of industrial areas. We found this on June 14, and June 30, The President carried out the first groundbreaking for the declaration of this area," he said.

With good planning and collaboration, in one year and five months, the area called Bahlil was once just a wilderness, sugarcane and rubber plantations, it later became an industrial area that became the location of various investment projects.

"And all 450 hectares of the first phase have been sold out. This is due to the close collaboration between the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing, the Ministry of Investment, but more specifically because there is a one-sided collaboration between the Ministry of SOEs and the Central Java Provincial Government," he said.

Bahlil also hopes that this good collaboration will continue so that the realization of future investments can run well.

He revealed that there were already several companies interested in the development of the second phase, including LG and Foxconn.

"In this area, we are now entering the second stage of 1,000 hectares, of which LG has entered the second phase of 1,000 hectares, which has entered 275 hectares, then Foxconn has also entered the second phase, and God willing, if America is positive to enter, the place will also be, God willing. here," he said.

LG itself is involved in the second phase of the Batang KIT development to realize the second phase of the integrated electric battery industry investment plan.

This was done following the groundbreaking of a battery cell facility worth a total of US$1.1 billion in Karawang, West Java, in September 2021.

The construction of the factory is part of an overall planned $9.8 billion integrated electric vehicle battery project that has been signed with South Korea.

"We believe that by the end of 2023, by 2024, our target is that at least 50 percent of the 4,300 hectares in Batang will also be fully filled," said Bahlil.

KIT Batang is located in Batang Regency, Central Java Province, which has a total area of 4,300 hectares of land to be developed. The construction of the Batang KIT is divided into three phases, where the construction in phase I covers an area of 450 hectares.

The Batang KIT development is divided into 3 clusters, namely Cluster I covering an area of 3,100 hectares, Cluster II covering an area of 800 hectares, and Cluster III covering an area of 400 hectares.

KIT Batang is one of the selected areas that can become a new industrial center in the hope of bringing in foreign investors to invest in Indonesia.