Govt to adopt new development approach

Govt to adopt new development approach

JAKARTA (JP): The government will introduce a new approach to
economic development by promoting zones with high potential for
investments, a minister said yesterday.

"We will apply a new concept by setting up 111 investment
promotion zones in the country, instead of developing areas on
the periphery of towns," State Minister of National Development
Planning Ginandjar Kartasasmita said in a hearing with members of
the House of Representatives yesterday.

Ginandjar, who is also chairman of the National Development
Planning Board (Bappenas), said the new approach will account for
the human and natural resource potencies in the planned zones.

"The new concept will synchronize business activities with
local spatial planning," he said.

He said that the government will soon announce the 111 zones
and their individual business focuses.

"Some of the zones, for example, will be good for investments
in tourism, others for agriculture or manufacturing," he said.

"The proposed zones will be supported with appropriate
infrastructure facilities, such as irrigation networks for
agriculture or electricity for industrial activities," Ginandjar
said.

Meanwhile, a deputy chairman of Bappenas, Herman Haeruman,
said the government will propose that Jambi, a province in
Sumatra, be included in the subregional economic cooperation area
involving Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

"After a discussion with Coordinating Minister of Production
and Distribution Hartarto, such a proposal will be submitted in
the coming senior official meeting of the three countries," he
said.

The subregional cooperation area, called the Indonesia-
Malaysia-Singapore Growth Triangle (IMS-GT), currently involves
West Sumatra and Riau, the Negeri Sembilan, Johor Bahru and
Pahang states in Malaysia and Singapore.

Riau, covering 94,561-square-kilometers, has a population
density of 41.5 people per square kilometer. Jambi, covering
44,800 square-kilometers, has a population density of 53.2 people
per square kilometer. (icn)