Citramas Group connects Singapore and Indonesia through Innovation

Posted in: The Business Times - Indonesia Report 2017 Started by Franz Fricke

Citramas Group connects Singapore and Indonesia through Innovation

Established by Kris Wiluan in 1980, Citramas Group has grown into a truly diversified company. Initially, Citramas Group’s core business was as a service provider and equipment manufacture to the oil and gas industry. Today the company is creating a one hundred hectare state-of-the-art digital technology park which will be anchored by their own animation and film production company.

The company first achieved success by becoming a preferred supplier to oil and gas players. Citramas Group supplied pipes, valvesand tubular products and added value by providing equipment repair services.

‘When we started the business, millions of dollars were being spent on energy services in the region and we had the foresight to see that service providers were going to play a key role in the growth of the oil and gas industry’, says Wiluan.

‘The business opportunities and synergies we saw between Singapore and Indonesia lead us to the establishment of our activities in Singapore and Batam, Indonesia. These became our logistics bases to support our customers and today, as the oil and gas sector continues to evolve, we remain a committed partner and have created a win-win relationship with each of our customers’.

Through organic growth, joint ventures and acquisitions, Citramas Group’s business has grown internationally and the group now operates in over forty countries. As a diversified company, Citramas Group’s revenue streams today include oil and gas, port and ferry terminals, hotels, hospitality and leisure.

Information, communication and technology (ITC) and disruptive tech-innovations continue to influence our modern business world. As a business leader and risk-taker, Wiluan is keen to play a role in innovation-creation in the region.

Buffalo Boys, a new feature film to be released in 2018 directed by Mike Wiluan of Infinite Studios in Nongsa Digital Park

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’.