Ambassador Blake led a delegation of 11 companies and business associations to the Batam Free Trade Zone during a January 29-30, 2015 visit to Batam. On January 29, the Ambassador and delegates met with the Riau Islands Provincial Governor, Batam Mayor, Batam Indonesia Free Trade Zone Authority (BIFZA) leadership, and local business leaders as part of ongoing efforts to identify trade and investment opportunities for U.S. companies and deepen commercial and diplomatic ties with key cities throughout Indonesia. The Foreign Commercial Service led a “Doing Business with the U.S.” seminar for more than 50 local Batam companies interested in learning more about sourcing from or partnering with U.S. companies, and Ambassador Blake had an opportunity to visit Caterpillar’s new $150 million mining truck and shovel facility.
Notable U.S. investors in Batam include McDermott, GE, SC Johnson, Eaton Corporation, Honeywell, and Caterpillar. On January 30, the Ambassador visited Kinema Studios (also called Infinite Studios), Indonesia’s leading animation and film studio. Kinema shared three Daytime Emmy wins in 2014 for its work on Nickelodeon’s Peter Rabbit, and is currently filming Beyond Skyline with U.S. company Hydraulx. Capping off his trip on January 30, the Ambassador traveled to neighboring Bintan Island to visit Honeywell’s advanced avionics and aviation technology manufacturing facility.
