A senior official at Indonesia's Industry ministry said on Monday that government planned to build six new industrial zones located in several regions across the country in the near future, local media reported.

"We will develop new industrial areas in Bintuni (Papua province), Pomalaa (South Sulawesi), Batu Licin (South Kalimantan), Kuala Tanjung (North Sumatra), Bojonegara (Banten) and Purwakarta (West Java)," said Dedi Mulyadi, the director general for industrial development at the ministry.

Feasibility study works on those projects had been going on since early this month, he said, adding that among the firms already pledged their interest to invest in the new industrial zones is the state-run fertilizer firm, Pupuk Indonesia and state- run mining firm, Aneka Tambang.

Dedi added that government has set target to build and fully develop a total of 18 new industrial zones by 2014.

"However, the projects are facing many challenges, particularly in the increasing prices of land," he said as quoted by the Antara news agency. He said the current price of land in Indonesia was around 200 US dollars per square meter, or higher than that of in Malaysia and China.