SOUTHEAST ASIA CONSTRUCTION14 Sep 2020
Sinar Mas Land and Mitbana partner to build TOD projects in Indonesia

Sinarmas Land Limited, through its subsidiary PT Bumi Serpong Damai Tbk (Sinar Mas Land), has established a partnership with Mitbana Pte Ltd, a joint venture fund management company of Mitsubishi Corporation and Surbana Jurong, to advance the creation of smart and sustainable transit-oriented developments (TODs) in Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD) City, Greater Jakarta, Indonesia. Established in March 2019, Mitbana is a Singapore-headquartered urban development fund focusing on TOD and township projects in ASEAN and South Asia.

Through this partnership, Sinar Mas Land and Mitbana said they seek to develop first-of-its-kind integrated TODs in Indonesia with new approaches to urban development in a post-pandemic connected world. Leveraging the experience and expertise of Mitsubishi Corporation and Surbana Jurong, Mitbana aims to accelerate such developments with the support of institutional capital from third parties. These projects are also expected to support the Indonesian government’s focus on infrastructure development in Jakarta, which would lead to better connectivity for commuters and residents.

BSD City is Sinar Mas Land’s flagship town development that encompasses a total land area of approximately 6,000 ha. Developed since the mid 1980s, it is a thriving district with businesses, schools, shopping malls, hospitals, hotels and convention centres. BSD City is currently home to the Apple Developer Academy, co-run by Apple and a local Indonesian university, as well as an innovation and engineering lab run by Singapore-based ride hailing company Grab.

According to Sinar Mas Land and Mitbana, they will work together to transform over 100 ha of greenfield land in BSD City into TODs comprising residential units, commercial properties, living amenities and public transport nodes. This undertaking will enlarge BSD City’s existing development footprint and expand on its current population of 200,000 residents.

“The future growth potential of TODs in Indonesia presents many scalable development opportunities for Mitbana, and we are very excited to take this first step towards realising our vision of becoming a leading urban development fund that transforms communities through smart, sustainable and social development thrusts,” explained Gareth Wong, CEO of Mitbana.

As the world grapples with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Mitbana is cognisant that our future living environments will need to change and adapt; to this end, we will work with Sinar Mas Land to define and deliver holistic urban solutions to uplift communities and businesses in Indonesia. Our projects will be developed over several phases, and we look forward to unveiling more details at the opportune time.”

Michael Widjaja, group CEO of Indonesia’s Sinar Mas Land said, “We are very excited to partner Mitbana to shift our flagship development in BSD City into an integrated smart city, which is interconnected and accessible to key destinations. With this commitment, Mitbana will become Sinar Mas Land’s largest development partner in BSD City, and we look forward to having our partnership bring even better value to our residents and becoming a model for TOD developments in Indonesia.”

Mitbana’s partnership with Sinar Mas Land builds on existing collaborations among Mitsubishi Corporation, Sinar Mas Land and Surbana Jurong. Within BSD City, Mitsubishi Corporation has embarked on ‘The Zora’ project with Sinar Mas Land, an exclusive gated-residential development cluster designed with Mitsubishi’s smart home technology. Separately, Sinar Mas Land, together with another Indonesian conglomerate Citra Mas, have engaged Surbana Jurong to develop a concept masterplan for a 62-ha eco-digital project in Nongsa, Batam.

Chong Lit Cheong, chairman of Mitbana and group chief corporate officer of Surbana Jurong said, “Mitbana’s partnership with Sinar Mas Land in their flagship BSD City township in Indonesia sets the foundation for us to champion smart and sustainable developments in Asia. Surbana Jurong will support the endeavour with its multidisciplinary urban and infrastructure solutions, while Mitsubishi Corporation will lend its complementary urban development expertise. We look forward to working with Sinar Mas Land to deliver modern TODs in Indonesia that will maximise the convenience of major transport nodes and meet the needs of the growing middle class.”

Hiroshi Nakanishi, general manager of Mitsubishi Corporation in Singapore and Mitbana’s board member also commented, “Mitsubishi Corporation is pleased that Mitbana is building on our existing partnerships with Sinar Mas Land for developments in BSD City. We are confident of Indonesia’s future growth potential and look forward to introducing the very best Japanese products and technology in this project.”

Image: Sinar Mas Land/Mitbana