Wisma Soewarna greets investors upon arrival
JAKARTA (JP): In an effort to attract foreign investors, Minister of Communications Agum Gumelar inaugurated on Tuesday Wisma Soewarna, a first-class integrated commercial estate at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.
"The new building will hopefully provide a much needed stimulus for the Indonesian business community and give a good impression to foreign investors as it is located near the airport, Indonesia's gateway to the world," Agum said while addressing the opening ceremony.
Present at the ceremony were Soenaryo, the director general of Air Transportation, Mishul Firdaus, the president director of airport management firm PT Angkasa Pura, and Irawadi D. Hanafi, the president director of business complex developer PT. Sanggraha Daksamitra.
Wisma Soewarna, Indonesia's first integrated commercial estate located in the Soewarna Commercial Park area at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng, West Jakarta, was established to help businesspeople make and maintain foreign business contacts with internationally integrated commercial estates.
"The commercial complex was designed according to international standards and will cater to distribution and trading companies, airport support businesses and light manufacturing or assembly industries," Irawadi said.
Soewarna Commercial Park occupies a 102-hectare area and was developed with a budget worth US$30 million by PT. Sanggraha Daksamitra, a joint venture comprising Nisso Iwai Corporation of Japan and a consortium of local property developers, which recently completed the Four Seasons Regent Residence in Central Jakarta.
Wisma Soewarna is a three-story office block, occupying a 6,000-square-meter area within the park, equipped with a fiber optic telecommunications system, parking area, gardens and other supporting facilities, such as a food court, mosque and a bank with an ATM.
Besides Wisma Soewarna, the park has three other major facilities: a 24-unit warehouse complex with sizes starting from 300 square meters to be leased out for US$8 per square meter, a 64-hectare 18-hole golf course and 17.5 hectares of cleared land, which is available to be leased from 10 to 20 years at between $2.40 and $12 per square meter.
Sanggraha general marketing manager Ishak Chandra said 50 percent of the office space at Wisma Soewarna was leased, while the warehouse was completely leased. He said another four investors had registered for an additional warehouse complex which would be constructed this year. Meanwhile, the golf club has been in operation since early 1999.
"Given its direct access to the airport cargo terminal and the toll road and the fact that it's only some 20 minutes from both Jakarta's central business district and Tanjung Priok seaport, the business park is an attractive medium for foreign investors," Irawadi said.
"Companies which have leased facilities at the park, include freight forwarding companies: TNT Express, Tiki JNC, Danzas, K- Line, Ritra Cargo, Petrolog and Tabitha, and travel agency Vaya Tour," he said.
The presence of the park, he said, would enable Indonesia to offer facilities and services comparable to those offered by other leading modern business locations in the ASEAN region, such as Chek Lap Kok in Hong Kong, Clark Special Economic Zone in the Philippines and Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah International Airport in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (09)