Sinar Mas to build Indonesian version of Silicon Valley
Friday, June 24, 2016 2:18 PMIndonesia is to have its own version of Sillicon Valley, with property developer Sinar Mas Land building the first integrated smart digital city in Indonesia for startup companies, technology leaders and digital communities.
The company’s CEO, Michael Widjaja, said construction would start in 2017 on a 25.86-hectare plot of land in BSD City, South Tangerang. It has allocated Rp 2 trillion (US$151 million) in cash to develop the digital hub.
“It’s our dream to build this place, an equivalent to Silicon Valley in the US. We are not only inviting the companies there but we want to build a self-sustaining community,” he said in Jakarta on Tuesday.
The project, he continued, will be finished in 10 to 15 years. “The digital hub aims to reach all startups in Indonesia,” he said, adding that it was also targeting research centers, institutions and educational institutions that have schools of technology and sciences.
Currently, three start-up companies have already reached cooperation agreements with Sinar Mas to build facilities in the ambitious real estate project, namely Sale Stock, Orami and Ev Hive.
Sinar Mas Land is controlled by conglomerate group Sinarmas, which also has a publicly listed property subsidiary with the largest land bank in Indonesia, named Bumi Serpong Damai. (sha/ags)