By Eveline Danubrata and Cindy Silviana
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian conglomerate Lippo Group said on Thursday it plans to build a $21 billion center near Jakarta targeting the automotive and electronic industries, and will include five-star hotels, shopping malls and universities.
Billed as the "Shenzhen of Indonesia", the Meikarta project is Lippo's largest to date and will include partnerships with Japan's Mitsubishi Group, Toyota and Sanko Soflan Holdings Co Ltd. Shenzhen is one of China's wealthiest and largest manufacturing hubs.
"Meikarta and its surrounding area has a real potential to be the most important city in Indonesia," the company said in a statement, referring to the project.
In the first stage of development, the industrial center will be built on a 22 million square meter area located in a corridor connecting the Indonesian capital of Jakarta to the West Java city of Bandung.
The area is surrounded by industrial estates where millions of cars, motorbikes and electronic products are produced every year.
Pre-sales of residential units will start later this month, with the first stage of construction of the entire project to be completed in three years, the company said.
Lippo will finance its investment from its own capital, loans, and pre-sales of properties in the project.
