Batam, Batamnews - The Batam Concession Agency (BP) has received wider authority in terms of licensing. This is under the mandate of Government Regulation (PP) Number 41 of 2021 concerning the Implementation of Free Trade Areas and Free Ports.

With this wider authority, it is hoped that business actors related to bureaucratic licensing constraints in the Batam KPBPB area that so far have existed, can be handled more quickly.

The Head of BP Batam, Muhammad Rudi, said in an interview that there are many features of the Batam, Bintan and Karimun Free Trade Areas and Free Ports (KPBPB) after the enactment of PP No. 41 of 2021.

The reason is that the permits that have been given from the Ministries/Institutions dealing in Batam will be delegated to regional regulators.

Furthermore, he explained that PP Number 41 of 2021 is a strategic policy for managing KPBPB Batam, Bintan, and Karimun to improve the investment ecosystem for economic growth, expansion of employment, and increasing regional competitiveness.

KPBPB is essentially a fiscal policy for economic recovery and investment for economic acceleration. The list of business licenses under the authority of BP Batam is 67 types of permits from 8 sectors.

These sectors are Port Transportation, Health, Trade, Business Licensing for Industrial, Water Resources, Waste, and Environment, Forestry, Energy and Mineral Resources, and Marine and Fisheries Sector.

In line with this, BP Batam continues to push for breakthroughs that will further shorten and simplify all permits, to improve the investment ecosystem and business activities at KPBPB Batam.

One of the concerns is the improvement of Indonesia's electronic-based services Batam Online Single Submission or IBOSS.