Indonesia is going to build a 7km bridge to connect Batam and Bintan islands.

The bridge connecting the two islands will cost an estimated 4 trillion rupiah (S$385.68 million).

Construction will start in 2020, and is expected to take three to four years to complete.

It will be the longest bridge in the Southeast Asian country.

Driving across the bridge could take a fraction of an hour.

A typical ferry ride between the two islands is about an hour.

The new bridge is part of efforts to develop industry and tourism in the area.

Singapore connection

Batam is about 31km away from Singapore

The bridge aims to capitalise on Singapore's Changi Airport expansion.

The new Terminal 5 will have transport connections to Bintan.

Jokowi's pledge

President Joko Widodo embarked on infrastructure construction projects since his first term in office.

His administration is seeking to market Batam, Indonesia's only free trade zone, to investors.

The trade war between United States and China is pushing out factories from the latter.

They might relocate to Indonesia, providing precious jobs for locals.

During his campaigning for presidency in April 2019, Widodo vowed to complete the construction of the bridge.

The bridge project was first introduced in 2005.

Jokowi's second term starts in October.

How will the bridge work

An early design of the Batam-Bintan bridge project showed the bridge consisting of three parts.

The first part would connect the capital of Riau Islands to Tanjung Sauh Island.

The second part would connect Tanjung Sauh to Buau-Buau Island.

The last one would link Buau-Buau to Bintan.