Indonesia is planning to build a 7km-long bridge linking two islands near Singapore, the longest in the country, in a bid to develop industry and tourism in the area, announced the Indonesian government on July 11.

Indonesia is planning to build a 7km-long bridge linking two islands near Singapore, the longest in the country (Photo: Reuters)

The bridge, connecting the two islands of Batam and Bintan in Malacca Strait, will be built at an estimated cost of 4 trillion rupiah (284.35 million USD).

The construction will start in 2020 and take three to four years to finish.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who has made building infrastructure the cornerstone of his first term in office, has pledged to continue cutting bottlenecks in Southeast Asia's largest economy in his second term.

His administration has also sought to promote Batam, Indonesia's only free trade zone, to investors looking to relocate factories out of China amid the trade tension between China and the US.

(Source: VNA)