<h1><font size="2">DENPASAR - A modern and permanent port for foreign cruise ships will be built in the Indonesia's island resort of Bali, chief of Bali Provincial Transportation Office Putu Sujana Cahyanta said here on Thursday.</font> </h1><p>He expressed hope that after the completion of the port, foreign cruise ships passing by the Indonesian waters would take a few days to make a port call at the Indonesian island. </p><p>&quot;Luxury cruises ships carrying tourists from other countries to Singapore are expected to come to Bali as well after the modern, permanent port is ready,&quot; Putu Sujana said. </p><p>He pointed out that at least 300 luxury cruise ships, each with 1,500 to 2,000 tourists, arrived in Singapore every year. </p><p>&quot;Those floating hotels on their way to a number of countries in Asia usually pass Indonesian waters, and therefore they are expected to make a stop in Bali when the port is ready,&quot; Putu Sujana said, adding that the facility was under construction. </p><p>He estimated that even if only half of the 300 cruise ships made port calls to Bali, it would have a positive impact on the tourist industry in the province, as well as on the local people's economy. </p><p>Putu Sujana said the modern port for cruise ships was under construction in Karangasem district, with financial support from the central government, Bali provincial administration, and Karangasem district administration. </p><p>The construction of the port is expected to finish in 2009. </p><p>At least 17 cruise ships with thousands of foreign tourists aboard stopped at the old port in Karangasem in 2007, and 15 cruise ships in 2006. </p><p>One of them was Italian Costa Marina cruise with 496 tourists, which anchored at Karangasem port for two days. </p><p>Putu Sujana said that before the Bali bombing tragedy, more than 20 cruise ships made a stop in Bali, and in 1995 alone, 70 of them, with hundreds of thousands of tourists arrived on the resort island.</p>