Where are you originally from? 
Sunderland in north-east England. Most people do not know it because of the wonderful football team.
How long have you been in Indonesia?
a of over 16 years in two separate periods from mid-1994 until now.
What do you do for a living?
I am a Chartered Surveyor and work in the real estate sector. I currently work for PT Lippo Karawaci Tbk as Director of the Division Shopping Malls.
Tell us a little Lippo Group.
This is very much a multi-faceted group with many diverse interests including being the largest listed real estate developer Indonesia . The development division is itself highly diversified with interests in the rapidly expanding residential / townships, hospitals, schools, hotels and shopping centers.
The Kemang Village is a gigantic building that will be a cinema, supermarket and school. What measures have you put in place to ensure that this apartment does not add to traffic that already exists in Kemang?
Kemang Village is an integrated development which will include seven towers of condominiums, an international school, a 5 star hotel, 2 different installations club and wedding chapel in addition 55,000sqm shopping center. In addition, however, we provide two things that is a very rare commodity in Kemang, additional infrastructure, mainly in the form of new roads and perhaps more significant parking, and lots of it. The only mall has over 2,000 car parking spaces that we hope can help take some of the traffic in the streets.
The apartments Kemang Village always seem to be 95% sold on the banners - is this a trick marketing / sales
Not at all, in fact, turnover was achieved in a single day the last residential tower was launched several months ago. Good marketing is of course important to ensure such a high success rate of sales, but the only real "trick" for any successful development is to understand the market and offer a good quality product at the right price.
What other buildings are Lippo handling?
There are just too many to mention in such a small space, but the only malls division currently has deployment plans at least 18 new shopping centers all around Indonesia in the next 3-5 years with new projects being added to this list on a regular basis.
What do you expect will happen in the residential property market, ie apartments in Jakarta the future?
as any real estate market in the short term, there will be ups and downs, but I think in the long term the trend will gradually upward. For example, the current selling price (rate per m²) for condominiums in Kemang Village are now in some cases more than twice what they were when the first rounds were launched there are only 4 years . Yet even in global and regional terms, prices in Jakarta are still relatively low on a comparative basis. In addition independent research shows that the achievable rental yields on apartments in Jakarta say 8-10% per year are significantly higher than the yields available on similar properties elsewhere. In the more mature markets, you may be lucky to reach 2-3% per year. While any real estate investment, you have to be selective. I would say that buying an apartment in Jakarta is now likely to be a good long term investment.
are they safe new construction of apartments in Jakarta against earthquakes?
Can not answer because it depends entirely on the individual design and specification. However, contrary to what many people may believe, Indonesia related to the design and building codes are usually very strict, especially for high-rise buildings, and most developers will design and build to a level very high.
Would you live in a suburban house or apartment in the city of Jakarta ?
Both have merit, but having lived in apartments here in Jakarta for many years I finally moved me to a house in suburbs a little over a year, so I guess that speaks for itself.
Are you planning to return home in the future and if so will you miss most living in Indonesia?
While I could not be excluded in the longer term, I am currently not intend to return home in the United Kingdom except for holidays. I miss the Macet the Banjir, friends, golf, food and people but not necessarily in that order.
Thank you Ian! To contact, send an email to ian.smith@lippokarawaci.co.id