Tin firm's industrial estate

JAKARTA (JP): The state-owned tin mining company PT Tambang Timah, in cooperation with PT Bakrie Investindo, will establish an industrial estate in Belinyu on Bangka Island, South Sumatra, next year with an investment of US$10 million.

"The government has in principle approved the planned cooperation in the development of the industrial estate," the company's president, Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas, told reporters here on Monday.

He said his company is now waiting for approval from Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad on the amount of the company's equity participation in the project.

Erry said that according to a recent agreement with Bakrie Investindo, Tambang Timah's facilities at the project site, including a port, roads and land, will be regarded as its equity.

The additional capital needed for the development of the planned industrial estate will be offered to Bakrie Investindo, he said.

Based on the agreement, Bakrie Investindo, an affiliate of the Bakrie Group, will be responsible for the construction of new supporting facilities and management of the estate, Erry said.

He said the project, to be located on a 1,400-hectare land, will be constructed in stages.

Erry said the planned industrial estate will offer advantages because it is close to Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.(fhp)