JAKARTA ~ Indonesia could have one of the tallest skyscrapers in the world within three years, soaring 558 meters above the capital Jakarta.

Despite the world economic crisis, a consortium of local businessmen has agreed to go ahead with the mammoth Jakarta Tower in the northern Kemayoran area of the capital, development official Sarwo Handayani said.

“The project has been halted for more than a decade. Now the developers want to resume the project with added technology,” she said.

“Hopefully the tower can be finished by 2012. It will be something that Indonesians can be proud of.”

The tallest building in the world is Taiwan’s Taipei 101, which stands up to 508 meters.

But the under-construction Burj Dubai tower in the Gulf state of Dubai will be the tallest when it is finished, at over 800 meters.