MTD to build seaport, toll road in Indonesia

MTD Capital Bhd., a Malaysian builder, plans to build a sea port and a toll road in West Java to help reduce traffic congestion and facilitate coal shipments.

"These projects are important to ease traffic congestion, which has caused some late shipments," Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told reporters in Kuala Lumpur Monday. They can also help bring costs down for the industry, he said.

Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest economy, is the world's largest exporter of power-station coal. Energy Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said in May it needs to spend $40 billion on power projects by 2015 to meet rising demand.

MTD shares fell 0.8 percent to 2.63 ringgit at close on the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange. They have slide 25 percent this year, compared with the Malaysian benchmark index's 22 percent drop. - Bloomberg

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