History of Bantaeng

Based on Prof. Nurudin Syahadat, the life in Bantaeng was start in the year of 500. The government
declared Bantaeng was found in 7 December 1254. Dr. Muhammad Yamin stated that Bantaeng
is already on Map of Singosari Kingdom when King Kertanegara expanded its territory to the
eastern archipelago to establish commercial relations in 1254-1292. On 1667, Dutch troops landed
in Bantaeng before attacking Kingdom of Gowa because of its strategic location as a port city and
food granary of the Kingdom of Gowa. Bantaeng itself was named Bantayang in 1594 up to 1737,
then changed to Bhontain from 1737 up to 1962. After DPRD decision on 1962, they decided to
name the District as Bantaeng.

Before 2008, Bantaeng was classified as one of 199 lagging regions in Indonesia. Then, Prof. DR.
Ir. H. M. Nurdin Abdullah M.Agr became their Regent. He solved the basic problems in Bantaeng
such as flood and health facilities. He also developed the tourism sector, educational sector and
industrial sector. The result was the interest from foreign investor to invest in Bantaeng. In 2014,
Chinese investor invest 3 Billion USD to Bantaeng District. The investment from two large
Chinese companies is aimed at infrastructure and smelter development. Bantaeng industrial area
is known to be the first cluster of smelters in eastern Indonesia.

CLUSTER PERFORMANCE

Industrial Field

Industrial Area in South Sulawesi is located in District Pajukakang Bantaeng with a land area of
about 3000 hectares. The main activities in Bantaeng Industrial Estate include the integrated
industry of ferronikel, stainless steel, and downstream products.

Development of Bantaeng Industrial Estate is based on its potential in the mining field. Absorption
of labor from industrial estate development about 160.000 labor until 2035. Investment value from
development of KI Bantaeng amount 24,4 T rupiah, and until now there are 8 investors who have
done land acquisition for smelter industry. besides it also built a power plant with a capacity of 2
x 300 Mw in water supply and sea water treatment into fresh water to meet the needs of the
industry.
Agriculture

Bantaeng main business is agriculture. There are a lot of type of food crop productions. The largest
production is Corn. In 2015, the production of corn reached 148 thousand tons. Table 1 below
shows total amount of production in 7 type of food crop in range of 2011 until 2015.

Types of Food Production (Ton)

Crops 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Rice 90,371 89,984 98,125 94,134 79,149
Corn 177,464 165,925 163,805 177,470 148,703
Soybeans 365 599 418 144 187
Peanuts 773 1,088 964 711 176
Green beans 103 153 195 96 10
Cassava 828 1,061 841 512 946
Sweet potato 991 1,219 407 581 1,102

From the table, we see declining trends in the total amount of production for food crops. If we take
a look the table 2. Gross Regional Domestic Product trend for agriculture was declining on 2015.
It’s not because of lack of intention in develop the agriculture but the government tried to balance
the industries development so that Bantaeng cluster development has multiple points which
support each other.

Gross Regional Domestic Product (Percent)

Industry
2012 2013 2014 2015
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries 2.59 5.45 6.4 0.38
Mining and excavation 14.38 10.01 12.8 29.42
Processing industry 22.8 17.56 17.23 8.12
Procurement of Electricity and Gas 15.44 7.48 6.05 7.47
Water Supply; Waste Management, Lifetime, and
18.29 2.55 7.37 1.23
Recycling
Construction 9.49 11 8.72 4.11
Large and Retail Trade; Car and Motorcycle Repair 16.33 12.64 11.2 16.47
Transportation and Warehousing 13.5 8.3 9.12 18.33
Provision of Accommodation and Drinking 16.86 18.14 21.21 11.44
Information and Communication 22.73 13.15 5.44 9.67
Financial Services and Insurance 20.28 9.72 7.37 5.72
Real Estate 16.68 9 13.74 10.78
Company Services 9.02 6.43 4.64 6.29
Administration of Defense and Social Security
3.58 4.38 3.24 3.81
Governments Obligatory
Educational Services 19.19 7.21 3.13 4.5
Health Services and Social Activities 23.23 23.92 11.75 17.04
Other Services 8.1 15.54 10.57 10.34