Batam, Bintan and Karimun

The free trade zones

A Framework Agreement on the three islands was signed on 25 June 2006, and free trade zone status followed from 2007. The Batam zone has recently grown. An Indonesian regulation, PP 47/2025, extended it from 8 to 22 islands, as reported at the Singapore-Indonesia ministerial meeting of the six working groups on 9 June 2026. A study on a digital hub was announced at the same meeting.

A border drawn in 1824

The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 17 March 1824 drew the line through the Strait that still separates Singapore and Malaysia from Indonesia. The relationships across it have remained close, from Indonesian wealth in Singapore to the industrial zones of Batam and Bintan. Bintan had its own moment as a trading centre. Under Bugis administration in the eighteenth century it became a flourishing entrepôt, and its decline after the Dutch treaty of 1784 was one of the arguments Raffles used for a free port in 1819.

Practical points

Singapore’s double taxation agreement with Indonesia was signed on 4 February 2020, entered into force on 23 July 2021 and has effect from 1 January 2022. Both countries belong to the ASEAN trade agreement, and RCEP has applied to Indonesia since January 2023. Land, labour, licences and customs on the islands are matters of Indonesian law, so you will need Indonesian counsel. The articles below come from the book Singapore as an International Financial Centre, followed by the wider Singapore sections.