Indonesia to build country's longest bridge linking islands near Singapore

FILE PHOTO: A view of shipyards, seen through a window, in Batam island, Riau Islands province, Indonesia, April 3, 2019. Picture taken on April 3, 2019. REUTERS/Henning Gloystein/File Photo

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia plans to build a 7 km (4.35 mile) bridge to connect two islands in the Malacca Strait, close to Singapore, as part of efforts to develop industry and tourism in the area, the government said on Thursday.

The bridge connecting Batam and Bintan islands will cost an estimated 4 trillion rupiah (£227.3 million), the office of the cabinet secretary said in a statement on Thursday, and will be the longest in the Southeast Asian country.