Batam Island, The City of Industry and Tourism

Batam, a city that is located near Singapore, is one of the biggest industrial city in Indonesia. Batam has various big industries like electronics, mechanics, steel, petroleum, etc. Companies and manufacturers are also from many countries. Most of the products of the industries are exported, but some of them are sold in Indonesia. Industries in Batam are important assets in adding income of our country.

Batam not only proud of its industries, but also its tourism. Many interesting places in Batam that attract visitors not only local but also foreign tourists. Barelang, which is abbreviation of Batam-Rempang-Galang, is a row of islands that are jointed by bridges. The first bridge, which is the biggest among the others and the best in its architecture, connects Batam Island and Rempang Island. Some people said that the first bridge is the miniature of San Francisco’s “Golden Gate” bridge due to its architecture. In Galang Island, visitors always come to Camp of Vietnam, a place where refugees from Vietnam had ever been there during the war last days. Beside Barelang, Batam has many beautiful beaches. Batam also has many fine places to relax our mind in the evening. Sitting on a bench in Marina while looking beautiful sunset or listening to the sound of the sea waves and order various menus of seafood in Harbor Bay while the lights of ships in port give a romantic nuance is nice choice. Batam also can be proud of its Coastarina, which has big letters as big as Hollywood’s.

The government of Batam has arranged the objectives of Batam City well. The main objective is making Batam the “copy” of Singapore. Since Batam got the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) status on 2007, that makes Batam has the special authority to makes economic relation to the other countries directly, the government works hard to attracts investor as much as possible. Beside that, the government gives strong regulation in order to improve Batam’s security. The government also works hard to fixes the problem in environment. People hope that Batam can be the modern, developed, and clean city as Singapore does without leaves its nature and the cultures of Indonesia behind.