Joint venture off with flying start

ON a recent visit to Jakarta, Singapore's Minister for Trade and Industry, S. Dhanabalan, conveyed to Indonesian President Suharto the island republic's great satisfaction with the co-operation extended in Indonesia's Riau islands.

He said that while the two countries ''took many years to get Batam going'' that experience had enabled them to move much faster on the neighbouring island of Bintan.

Since work began on the industrial park in February, 1990, nearly 50 companies have signed tenancy agreements with Batam Industrial Park, the main centre of industrial activity.

There are already 37 companies operating in the park. The firms are involved in the manufacture or assembly of light industrial products such as telecommunications equipment, electronic components for audio and video products, printed circuit boards, integrated circuits and disk drives.

The face of Batam has changed significantly since President Suharto authorised its development as an industrial area and tourist destination 20 years ago, when it was covered with dense tropical vegetation and populated mainly by people engaged in fishing or growing copra and rubber.

Since then, more than US$3 billion has been invested by the two governments and private business in the 415-square-kilometre island, which is 20 km southeast of Singapore.