Batam, Riau Islands (ANTARA News) - The Batam Free Trade Zone and Free Port (KPBPB) Management Board will soon call a tender for the construction of Batu Ampar container port, an official said.

"We will soon announce the tender soon," Head of the KPBPB Management Board Mustofa Widjaja said following an Idul Fitri get-together with the Communication Forum of the Batam City Administration Leadership on Friday.

He said the board would invite a number of domestic and foreign investors to take part in the tender.

"We will unveil the prospects of the Batu Ampar container port to investors," he said.

To date, there had been many foreign and domestic investors interested in investing in the container port, he said.

The board would be selective in choosing investors in the construction of the port because it involved high level of work and required high commitment on the part of investors, he said.

He denied an allegation that the tender for the construction of the port ran slowly due to pressure from foreign countries, Singapore in particular.

"The project stagnates for technical reasons," he said.

He said a French company which had won the tender dropped its bid because of the global crisis which also affected its country.

The chief of the board`s public relations and publication section, Dwi Djoko Wiwoho said the French company CMA-CGM was still undecided about whether or not it would construct and operate the port under a 50-year contract. (*)

Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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