Bintan island is `region's next Bali'

Bintan island is `region's next Bali'

By Richard Hubbard

SINGAPORE (Reuter): At the eastern end of the Malacca Straits just south of Singapore lies a lush, green tropical island undergoing a multi-billion dollar transformation, which its backers believe will create "a new Bali" as well as a major industrial center.

Pulau Bintan (Bintan island), the largest of the 3,200 islands that make up Indonesia's Riau Archipelago, sits at the crossroads of shipping lanes connecting Singapore to Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi.

Bintan, 45 km (27 miles) from Singapore, has a population of about 200,000 Malays, Bugis, Orang Laut (sea gypsies), Chinese, Arabs, Indians and others. Numbers are rapidly being swelled by construction workers and developers.

Indonesia's Industry Minister Tungky Ariwibowo told journalists on a recent trip to the island about US$3.3 billion was being spent by his and Singapore's governments developing roads, water and power supplies, telecommunications and port and tourist centers.

Indonesia is paying 60 percent of the cost, Singapore the rest.

The plan is to use Indonesia's abundant natural resources such as undeveloped land and cheap labor and marry it with Singapore's financial strength and management and construction expertise to create a huge holiday destination and major manufacturing hub.

The main tourist development, known as the Bintan Beach International Resort, includes hotels, golf courses, a Club Med, restaurants and water sports facilities. When finished it will cover 23,000 hectares (57,000 acres).

The resort is being developed by PT Bintan Resort Corp, a consortium of private Indonesian and Singapore companies. The group includes the Salim Group, Singapore Technologies Industrial Corp, DBS Bank Ltd, OCBC Bank Ltd, OUB Ltd, UOB Equity Investment, Straits Steamship Land Ltd, Tropical Resorts Ltd and KMPO Bincorp Investments Ltd.

Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said recently, after reviewing progress on the island, that the project was on its way to becoming "an internationally renowned leisure resort, just like Bali is today."

Singapore hopes to funnel some of its 6.4 million tourists a year to the resort to lengthen their average stay.

The resort has its origins in a 1990 joint economic agreement between Indonesia and Singapore to promote tourism and develop Riau province.

The first phase of development, including a ferry terminal, 12 km of a 35 km trunk road, an 18 megawatt electricity plant, a service reservoir and treatment plant is already complete.

Using a new high-speed ferry service from Singapore, the first tourists are expected to arrive at Bintan in October. They will find water sports, beaches, nature trails and a restaurant.

The first beach resort is expected to be open by early 1995, followed in 1996 by golf clubs, top-class hotels and the completion of the Club Med village.

Well away from the resort, the second part of the project known as Bintan Industrial Estate is also taking shape.

The Indonesian and Singapore governments are spending $350 million on the estate, designed to cater to light industries such as garment, footwear and furniture manufacturing.

The estate has its own ferry terminal, cargo wharf and a series of semi-detached factories plus blocks for workers' housing and water and electricity supplies.

A total of 55 hectares (135 acres) has now been developed and already one garment maker -- Gimmill Industrial, a subsidiary of the Ramatex Group -- has begun trial production on the site.

Singapore's Trade and Industry Minister Yeo Cheow Tong said recently that 13 local and foreign companies had already expressed an intention to set up factories in the estate, including Mizuno Corp of Japan.