Citramas is developing Nongsa Digital Park, a technology park on Batam Island, on which a subsidiary of Citramas Group is located.

‘The oil and gas industry has changed considerably over the years and being flexible and adaptable to change is crucial to our success in the future’, says Wiluan. ‘With Nongsa Digital Park we are developing an ecosystem for digital businesses in the region’.

In addition to having an international airport, Batam Island is only a forty minute ferry ride from Singapore. The island has a population of over one million people and is already home to world-class beach resorts. Notably, the island is also far from major earthquake zones making underground fiber-optic cable installation viable; a significant advantage when attracting tenants to the Park.

Citramas Group’s subsidiary, Infinite Studios, is a media entertainment and creative services company already employing three hundred staff in Batam. The company has already won numerous awards including The Grand Prix Nouveau Genre Award at L’etrange Festival Paris 2016.

‘Indonesia recognizes the importance the digital economy will play in the future and we are proud that Citramas Group is contributing to this vision,’ says Wiluan. ‘Our business is supported by the Singaporean Economic Board and President Joko Widodo and we will work hard to make a positive difference to the region through our commitment to innovation-driven solutions’.

www.citramas.com

Kota Jababeka was built from scratch in just 25 years with manufacturing as the key driver for growth and the multiplier effect creating new businesses and opportunities that have turned a mere industrial park into the bustling city that it is today. Jababeka is today replicating this successful model throughout Indonesia.

Jababeka’s partnership with Sembcorp Development of Singapore was established recently and the resulting joint venture lead to the establishment of the Kendal Industrial Park (KIP). Located twenty one kilometers west of Semarang, the capital of Central Java, this 2,700 hectare integrated industrial park is currently under development and is attracting international attention. As an industrial park which meets international standards, KIP is a mixed-use development that includes industrial as well as residential and commercial areas.

Offering a young and skilled labor force with management graduates from local universities and vocational institutes and competitive labor costs, KIP is an ideal location for both Indonesian and foreign manufacturing and tech companies.

In line with Jababeka’s philosophy of creating fully integrated townships, KIP offers world-class infrastructure and supporting amenities, well-equipped plots and ready-built factories, reliable electricity, water and waste-water treatment facilities, executive housing and well-managed employee dormitories.

In addition, the Company is also developing an integrated resort-township in Tanjung Lesung that caters to the tourism, leisure and hospitality industries. Tanjung Lesung, which lies approximately 170 kilometers southwest of Jakarta, enjoys Special Economic Zone status and is one of the Government’s 10 new tourism destinations of priority in Indonesia. Newly created cities like KIP and Tanjung Lesung are expected to drive Indonesia’s economic growth further, create jobs, improve education and bring more welfare to the Indonesian people.

‘With Indonesia’s GDP close to USD 1trillion and our wealth of natural resources, we see diverse economic opportunities across Indonesia’, says Darmono. “We are skilled in identifying strategic locations with the potential to become the next development project and are focused on sites across the country in Tanjung Lesung, Morotai, and other sites with potential resources and/or strategic advantages. We are committed to contributing to the development of Indonesia’.

www.jababeka.com

“We treat Southeast Asia not as a destination but as a source market. Therefore we cater to what the local consumers want. It means having a complete inventory not only in Bali but also in local destinations such as Jogjakarta, Bandung, Malang, and other tier two and tier three cities across Indonesia.”

Capitalizing on their success in Indonesia, Traveloka expanded to other ASEAN countries in 2015 including Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore. ”We see an opportunity for a digital platform that serve Southeast Asian consumers for travel needs. There are a lot of unique ecosystem challenges and consumer needs in Southeast Asia and we are well-positioned to solve those issues and be the go-to digital travel platform for Southeast Asian consumers” added Hendrawan.

www.traveloka.com

Foresight is key to the success of every business. With the company’s profitable venture into the energy industry, ‘Timber’ was dropped from the company name and Barito Pacific entered the renewable and sustainable energy sector in 2003 through Star Energy Group. Today the company focuses on oil, gas and geothermal energy through its state-of-the-art power plants.

Lead by President and Chief Executive Officer Rudy Suparman, Star Energy Group has developed into one of the world’s largest geothermal power producers with a combined production capacity of 875 megawatts throughout three facilities operating in Indonesia: Wayang Windu, Darajat and Salak.
With environmental responsibility a priority for Star Energy Group, the company exceeds all international safety and environmental standards and regulations.

‘When establishing and running our geothermal plants and other facilities, we work extremely hard on community capacity building within the local communities who live and work in the area’, says Suparman, ‘Our decisions are based on our desire to be responsible corporate citizens. Each of our facilities has received a ‘Gold’ or ‘Green’ ranking; the highest ecological standards certification awarded by the Government of Indonesia. Today, we are recognized internationally and domestically as the ‘Partner of Choice’ in the Indonesian energy sector’.

In addition to Star Energy Group’s commitment to environmental sustainability, the company is also actively involved in education, medical assistance and social development programs. In addition to providing text books, equipment, computers and libraries to local communities, the company has provided scholarships to over 1,600 students.

‘We are driven to continue contributing to the betterment of the country’, says Suparman. ‘Our priorities are to contribute to the Indonesian economy and improve people’s lives. Profitability is important to us as a company and giving back to society is a key pillar of our business model’.
These value shavea positive effect on the company’s balance sheet. Star Energy Group’s revenues more than doubled from 2015 to 2016 and this growth trend looks set to continue as the company moves forward.

‘Compared with other ASEAN member nations, Indonesia is in a unique position’,says Suparman. ‘With a population of over 250 million and GDP growing at five per cent per year, demand is thriving within the Indonesian economy. The market has been good to us; especially in our petrochemical division and we expect this to continue’.

Star Energy Group’s close ties with Singapore provide the company with key strategic advantages. Another division of Star Energy Group operates off-shore oil and gas fields in West Natuna Sea – such produced gas has been transported to Sembawang Corporation by underwater pipeline and has helped in providing power to parts of Singapore for more than 15 years.

The close relationship between Indonesia and Singapore also ensures both countries benefit from strong shared financial services and bilateral investment initiatives.

Singapore’s reputation as a leader in banking and financial services guarantees many of the region’s deals are done in Singapore under strict fiscal controls which offer transparency to companies in Indonesia and across ASEAN.

‘Singapore’s financial services industry is highly advanced and as a company, and a country, we enjoy doing business together to our mutual benefit’, concludes Suparman. ‘Our long-standing relationship with Singapore is based on shared trust and we appreciate Singapore’s role as a stepping-stone to the world while we strengthen our strategic partnership and close friendship’.

www.starenergy.co.id

How has Chandra Asri’s business evolved since being founded 25 years ago?

Since the establishment of the company in 1992, CAP has evolved tremendously. It all started when the two companies; PT Tri Polyta Indonesia Tbk (the largest Polypropylene producer in Indonesia) and PT Chandra Asri (a major producer of Olefins and Polyethylene) merged on January 1st, 2011 to create PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk – CAP.

After the merger, CAP’s reputation as Indonesia’s leading and preferred petrochemical company became more robust. We became the sole domestic producer for Ethylene, Styrene Monomer and Butadiene, the largest producer of Polypropylene, and one of the two producers of Polyethylene in Indonesia. Today CAP delivers the basic ingredients found in various consumer and industrial products. Over the years, the company kept its focus and continued growing by expanding production capacity and diversifying its product portfolio.

CAP always focused on business integration by delivering added-value solutions across the company’s production chain, leading us to become the largest integrated petrochemical company in Indonesia.

Chandra Asri contributes to the Indonesian economy in various ways. What are you most proud of in terms of the company’s successes and role as an economic growth driver here in Indonesia?

Increasing the scale of our business is very important to us and we continue to expand our capacity, integrate plant facilities and diversify our portfolio. These steps have enabled us to strengthen our leading position in the domestic petrochemical industry and have a positive impact on the Indonesian economy.

One of Chandra Astris’ State of the art facilities

Furthermore, CAP products help the nation to reduce its reliance on imported goods and help to save the country’s foreign exchange reserves. As a profitable company and responsible corporate citizen, we also contribute to the country’s tax receipts – both direct and indirect taxes – which fund the country’s development initiatives.

As our business continues growing, so we also require more manpower. We create numerous job opportunities across Indonesia and are proud of the fact that we have developed a locally-skilled labour force.

In addition, our company also creates a positive impact on newly established businesses and creates employment opportunities; especially for downstream industries, suppliers and other stakeholders.

What can we expect from the company in the next 2-3 years regarding investments, partnerships and growth strategies?

CAP always seeks opportunities to develop reliable partnerships. We established a strategic partnership with SCG Chemicals Co. Ltd., one of Thailand’s largest integrated petrochemical companies, and also one of our major shareholders.

This partnership benefited us in terms of production know-how and enabled us to share best operational practices, raw material procurement savings and ultimately accelerated CAP’s expansion plans.

We are also a strategic partner with Michelin, one of the world’s leading tire companies. Together we constructed a synthetic rubber facility which enriched the value chain across our petrochemical products.

We also strengthen and leverage our advantages as a leading company to retain exceptional relations with all of our stakeholders. CAP is also committed to maintaining and improving its best-in-class operating standards, cost efficiency, health and safety standards and environmental initiatives.

In order to ensure the implementation of these strategies, we invest in our human capital. By developing and nurturing our workforce, we have a skilled and competent human-resource pool for our current operations and future expansion.

In addition to expanding our product offerings, we intend to increase our production capacity by a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of six per cent over the next few years.

What final message would you like to share with our readers across ASEAN in this important 50th anniversary year about Chandra Asri and Indonesia’s economic potential?

Indonesia is a country with huge potential and we have a burgeoning population of some 250 million. In line with this, annual GDP growth is forecast to exceed five per cent and the Government is continuing to improve the country’s infrastructure.

However, in our industry, Indonesia is structurally deficient in terms of the production of petrochemical products and relies heavily on imports from other countries. Throughout our twenty five year of operations, we always aimed to grow in order to contribute to Indonesia’s economic growth.

By expanding capacity, diversifying our product portfolio, and integrating our businesses, we are not only gradually replacing imports and reducing the country’s foreign exchange outflows; we are also expanding our petrochemical footprint in Indonesia to meet the growing market demand for plastic products which is increasing in line with the country’s GDP.

Looking forward, CAP will continue to strengthen its commitment to the country’s industrial development. As a pillar of the country’s industrial sector, we look forward to playing a role in Indonesia’s continued economic development.

www.chandra-asri.com

‘It is also a privilege to work with our leading bank partners in Indonesia to bridge customers’ protection and long-term saving needs. We look forward to continuing and deepening our partnerships as it will help customers to live longer, healthier and better lives.’

AIA FINANCIAL believes customer loyalty is the utmost important. To sustain our customers, the sales force needs to be professional and can provide the right advice to their protection and long-term savings needs.

‘AIA Group has achieved number one Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) for three consecutive years. In Indonesia, we have the highest ratio of MDRT agents’, said Ng. ‘For those who are serious in building a career in insurance, they should join PT. AIA FINANCIAL, as we have a proven system that can provide a higher chance for people to succeed.’

AIA was the first to bring into Indonesia the iPos (Interactive Point of Sales) technology which enable us to complete a sales process completely paperless. Our latest iMo(Interactive Mobile Service) technology provides real time information about their customers and many functionalities that allow them to better serve their customers.

AIA Group is currently operating in 18 markets in Asia Pacific region and a market leader in most of the markets. PT. AIA FINANCIAL is able to benefit from a strong brand name and expertise across countries.

‘Singapore is an important financial hub in Asia’, said Ng. As the neighbor country, Singapore has been a popular destination for Indonesian. When our Indonesian customers travel to Singapore and see AIA brand, we are able to leverage AIA’s brand recognition, bring great product and service ideas from Singapore to grow our presence in Indonesia.’

www.aia-financial.co.id

Says Dr. Sugandhi. ‘We also assist our members in meeting government export requirements and help with any challenges being faced within the industry’. With world coffee production rankings determined by weather and crop yields, Indonesia’s near-perfect climate and ideal rainfall levels enable the country to produce world-class coffee. ‘Our long history of coffee production is based on our knowledge of planting, growing, producing and processing coffee’, concludes Dr. Sugandhi. ‘Indonesia’s coffee industry as a whole has seen annual domestic growth of seven to eight per cent in recent years. Coffee is important in our modern society and with consumers demanding high-quality coffee, our member companies continue deliver the very best’

www.gaeki.or.id