INDONESIA’s capital will soon boast a purpose-built mega convention and exhibition centre, which will enable it to bid for large-scale conferences, including the coveted medical and scientific events.
Construction on the Jakarta International Exhibition & Congress Centre (JIECC) is slated to start in October, and the venue is expected to soft-open in 2014, according to Lilia Sukotjo, director of Alam Sutera Realty, which has been tasked with developing the facility.
Designed by Larry Oltmanns, who also fashioned the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre and Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre, JIECC will already surpass the largest venues in Indonesia by nearly 30 per cent once Phase 1 is completed. When Phase 2 is finished in 2017, it will be among the largest single floor venues in Asia.
Besides featuring 60,000m2 of exhibition space, a 5,400m2 ballroom and 2,700m2 of meeting space, JIECC’s plenary hall will be able to accommodate 18,000 – 20,000 pax and offer 45 breakout rooms. This compares with 5,000 pax and 13 meeting rooms at the existing Jakarta Convention Center in central Jakarta.
Located at Alam Sutera, a 700-hectare mixed-use development in Serpong, Tangerang, the JIECC site is a 30-min drive to the Jakarta city centre and 15 min from the international airport. Alam Sutera Realty is also building three hotels within the estate, and two others on the fringes of the development.
Sukotjo said her research pointed to JIECC being able to bring in “better ROI than hotels”. She said Jakarta Convention & Exhibition Bureau (JCEB) CEO, Indra Sukirno, had broached the idea of building the facility to Alam Sutera, at a time when the developer was looking for something “new” to help it secure “recurring income” rather than, say, residential sales.
JCEB’s Sukirno said: “For years, we’ve been crying for a purpose-built centre that can accommodate large medical and scientific events. The existing venues can’t even accommodate the growth in exhibition size as it is.”
