PORTALJABAR, BANDUNG CITY - Bandung City will host the 2026 Bandung Edition of the Selangor International Business Summit (SIBS) ASEAN at the Pullman Hotel, Thursday (9/7/2026).

This international business forum, the first held outside Malaysia, is a strategic step to strengthen economic collaboration between Selangor and West Java while also opening up opportunities for investment, trade, tourism, education, healthcare, and the technology industry in the ASEAN region. The forum will run from July 9–10, 2026.

Bandung Mayor Muhammad Farhan said the presence of the delegation from Selangor was an honor and an opportunity to strengthen economic relations between the two regions, which share historical and cultural ties as related nations.

"Indonesia and Malaysia have many similarities. As brothers, we want this relationship to not just be friendship, but to develop into economic cooperation that provides real benefits to the people," said Farhan.

According to him, Bandung City is committed to becoming one of the main investment gateways in West Java. Therefore, the city government continues to open up collaboration opportunities for both domestic and international businesses.

Farhan hopes that this forum will produce various new understandings that will lead to real projects.

"We hope this meeting will generate new investments, new partnerships, and various concrete projects that will impact the people of Indonesia, Malaysia, and the ASEAN region," he said.

On that occasion, Farhan also highlighted the plan to resume operations of Husein Sastranegara Airport, which is believed to strengthen Bandung's connectivity with Malaysia.

He said the airport would again serve a number of domestic flights such as Medan, Pekanbaru, Padang, Batam, Pontianak, Makassar, and Denpasar, as well as international flights to Singapore, Johor Bahru, and Kuala Lumpur.

While acknowledging that global economic conditions and rising energy prices could potentially impact airline ticket prices, Farhan believes these challenges must be addressed by increasing the attractiveness of investment and tourism.

"What we need to do is not just think about oil prices, but also how to make Bandung, West Java, and Selangor increasingly attractive investment and tourism destinations," he said.

Meanwhile, West Java Deputy Governor Erwan Setiawan assessed that Malaysia is one of the largest investors in West Java. Over the past five years, Malaysian investment in West Java has reached approximately IDR 47 trillion. Furthermore, Malaysia is also one of West Java's ten largest export destinations, with a trade surplus of US$1.1 billion.

In the tourism sector, tourists from Malaysia contribute around 12.5 percent of total foreign tourist visits to West Java.

Erwan said West Java has various advantages that support investment, starting from a population of more than 51 million people, strategic infrastructure such as Patimban Port, Kertajati Airport, and an increasingly comprehensive toll road network.

First International Location

Member of the Selangor State Executive Council for Investment, Trade and Mobility, Ng Sze Han, explained that Bandung was chosen as the first international location for the 2026 ASEAN SIBS.

According to him, this step is part of the Selangor Government's vision to make its region a gateway to ASEAN while expanding regional trade and investment networks.

"SIBS not only strengthens economic relations between Selangor and West Java, but also strengthens ties between Malaysia and Indonesia and fosters inter-regional economic dialogue within ASEAN," he said.

Ng Sze Han revealed that SIBS 2025 in Selangor successfully attracted over 50,000 participants, with potential transactions reaching US$2 billion. This success prompted the forum's expansion to the ASEAN level, with Bandung as the first city selected.

In this Bandung edition, Selangor brought 70 companies, consisting of both government-owned and private enterprises, along with 225 delegates. Overall, the forum attracted over 400 participants, including 225 Malaysian delegates and approximately 200 Indonesian delegates.

In addition to the business forum, SIBS ASEAN 2026 also features the Selangor Medical Tourism and Education Expo in collaboration with Tourism Selangor and Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS).

The two-day exhibition featured 30 booths promoting healthcare, wellness, higher education, and tourism as high-value service sectors.

In the forum, a number of cross-sector memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were also signed, including collaboration between Women Empowered Selangor and Bappenas, Caregivers Academy International Group, LPK Darmawan, PT Rukun Sahabat Senior Living Indonesia, Association of The Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies (ASITA), UNISEL with the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), and the Indonesia Chip Design Collaborative Center (ICDEC).

Meanwhile, Dato' Menteri Besar Selangor, Dato Seri Amirudin bin Shari, said SIBS is not just a business exhibition, but a platform for building a stronger ASEAN economic future.

According to him, Indonesia and Malaysia, as related nations, have a shared responsibility to strengthen economic cooperation while maintaining peace in the region.

(Bandung City Communications and Information Service/rka)