TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) sees a great potential in the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) of Bitung that waits to be exploited by foreign investors in line with its development as an international hub.

Kadin North Sulawesi deputy chairman Daniel Singkal Pesik said that Philippine investors were among those showing interest to invest in Bitung. “Investors from Manila are wishing to invest in Bitung SEZ,” he said on Monday, February 27, 2017.

Read: Gov't Prepares 4 New Special Economic Zones

Daniel said that during his visit to the city of Davao in Mindanao, Japanese and Korean firms in the southern Philippine’s major city expressed their interest in investing in Bitung.

According to him, Bitung is situated in a very strategic location that is deemed suitable to be turned into a production base in Asia-Pacific region.

Bitung will be more valuable for the investors because Davao-Bitung sea route will open in April, which will cut travel time between North Sulawesi and the Philippines.

Bitung and Davao are only 336 sea miles apart. Meanwhile, the travel time needed by North Sulawesi businesses through the conventional route for export and import from and to the Philippines is 1,517 sea miles because they have to go through Manila-Singapore-Jakarta route.

BISNIS.COM