'Indonesia needs more urban development'

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia needs more urban development based on local economic potential, an entrepreneur said yesterday.

James T. Riyadi, deputy chairman of Lippo City Development, told reporters yesterday at the Lippo estate in Karawaci, Tangerang, that good urban development needs an economic basis in the area.

"Actually Indonesia needs 100 more urban development programs like Lippo Karawaci," he said.

James said that in developing a satellite city near Jakarta, the new urban area should be able to reduce the burdens of the capital city by having its own economic basis.

"Urban developments should also increase the income of the people living in surrounding areas," he said.

James said that more and more small-scale developers had asked his company to become their partners in developing estates around Lippo Karawaci.

"Not only that, we have asked traditional food sellers to participate in our food court," he said.

The key to success in developing the area, according to James, is his "management by walking around" system.

"I live, work, go shopping and entertain myself in this area," he said, "So I surely know how it feels when you don't have any water at midnight."

According to James, there are three main points in reducing the risks of building a new city.

"First of all, we started the new method in selling our merchandise. That's what we call the pre-selling," he said.

The pre-selling introduced by the company is a process in which a developer sells a property without initially building it, he added.

"It's one of the ways to reduce the risks. After we get the money from other investors we start building the property," he said.

"The second is getting partnerships in facilitating infrastructure," he said.

Citing an example, James said that in building the supermall, the Lippo group obtained two foreign investors.

"They are an Asian and a European investor, each with 25 percent shares in our mall project," he said.

Another way, James said, is to go public. He said that by going public, his group could get more investors, either individuals or companies.

He said that several companies have decided to relocate their main offices in the Lippo Karawaci complex.

"By the rapid progress of technology and communications, offices should not be based in Jakarta alone," he said.

Citing an example, he said that the area's advanced technology has helped people, specially businesspeople, conduct their daily activities.

He said Lippo always consults the government before developing a project.

Although the group has invested half of its capital in property, James denied that the group has shifted its activities from banking to property.

Meanwhile, James said that some of the businesses which will establish their main offices in the area are Matahari Department Store and Wal-Mart, a major retail business in the U.S. which will soon open a branch here.

"The 200,000-square-meter supermall will be the biggest in Indonesia," he said. It will be equipped with a 400-meter roller coaster system.

The mall, with a total investment of Rp 20 billion (US$8.9million) will have movie theaters and food courts.

"It will have seven theaters for 3,000 moviegoers and 50 restaurants serving more than 900 kinds of food," he said.

The mall will open on Nov. 28. (05)