S'pore cancels RI investment

S'pore cancels RI investment

SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore firms have put on hold investments
worth some S$1.7 billion (US$1 billion) in Indonesia's nearby
Riau province, a news report said here Tuesday.

Singapore's Business Times said that of a total of 66 projects
worth some $3.2 billion that were committed in 1998, only 22
projects worth some $1.58 billion have been pursued.

"We hope that once the political situation stabilizes, these
investments will start moving again," said Syahril Heryanto of
the Department of Coordination for Investments in the Riau
provincial government.

He said Singapore and other regional countries had expressed
concern over social tensions in the province.

Singapore is one of the largest investors in Riau, especially
in Batam and Bintan, where a series of clashes affecting
Singapore businesses were reported earlier this year.

Batam, which was first developed in the 1970s as a center for
the country's oil industry, now has a thriving tourist industry
as well which attracts large numbers of Singaporeans annually.

Bintan, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of here, is also a
popular weekend beach and golf resort for Singaporeans.