Property venture set up

JAKARTA (JP): PT Duta Pertiwi of the Sinar Mas Group, LG Group of South Korea, Marubeni of Japan and Land & House of Thailand agreed yesterday to form a joint venture to develop a 415- hectare residential area in Cibubur, East Jakarta.

The joint venture agreement was signed by Seung Moon Kim, the managing director of LG International, Teruo Hayashi, the general manager of Marubeni, and Anant Asavabhokhin, the president of Land & Houses.

Duta Pertiwi said in a statement that the project, called Cibubur Residential Development, will be developed in phases.

The first phase, which will be focused on the development of small and medium-size houses, will start by the end of this year.

Marubeni will take a 26 percent stake in the venture, with Duta Pertiwi holding 29 percent, LG International Corp. 25 percent and Land & Houses Public Co. Ltd. the remaining 20 percent.

The venture, capitalized at US$20 million, is expected to develop 14,300 houses in the 415-hectare housing project over a 15-year period, a Marubeni official said.

He said retail prices would range from $30,000 to $130,000 a unit. (hen)