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STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT-Jakarta. One of Indonesia’s leading presidential candidates pledged to continue President Joko Widodo’s flagship $32 billion new capital city if he wins a 2024 election, giving a boost for an ambitious project hit by delays and investor uncertainty.
Anies Baswedan, a popular former Jakarta governor who is backed by three political parties, said a law had been passed by parliament to build Nusantara, as the new capital is known, so whoever wins the presidency must see it through.
“The new capital city is not only an idea. This has become a law and all of us, when being inaugurated for any position, our vow is to implement the law,” Anies said at a public event when asked about his commitment to the new capital on Borneo island.
Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi visited Japan on a working visit, where he presented the prospects for cooperation in the development of Nusantara’s new capital city in East Kalimantan, in a seminar organized by Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Minister Budi said the transportation infrastructure in the new capital city is designed for all traffic management. “The new capital city implements an intelligent transport system that manages traffic and transportation.
Japan’s advanced transportation and traffic system will ensure the new capital’s infrastructure quality,” he said, adding that there will be a mass public transportation system supported by railways, air transportation, and ports.
President Jokowi expressed the hope that Indonesia’s Independence Day in 2024 will be commemorated in the future capital (IKN), Nusantara, in North Penajam Paser Regency, East Kalimantan.
He said that he had spoken with the stakeholders, including the designer and executors, of the IKN development project about the completion of the palace next year and they were optimistic that the target would be achieved.
The ministries will move to the new capital one by one, starting with the Public Works and Housing Ministry, according to Jokowi. The president told the press there was no issue with the budget disbursement for the ministers’ housing. The government also plans to build 47 apartment towers for civil servants and military officers, starting this June.
President Jokowi personally oversaw the construction of the tollway which is set to connect the city of Balikpapan with Indonesia’s new capital city Nusantara in East Kalimantan. The Balikpapan tollway which will connect Indonesia’s new capital city Nusantara is aimed to be completed by 2024. The Tollway will reduce travel time to the Nusantara from two hours to just 30 minutes.
In overseeing the construction, Jokowi affirmed that three segments of the tollway are currently in the progress of construction. President ensured that the previous issues regarding land acquisition are set to be solved and payments will be made this coming march.
Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo met with China’s new foreign minister, Qin Gang, in Jakarta on Wednesday, seeking stronger economic ties with Indonesia’s largest foreign investor, including in Nusantara, the new capital that Widodo is planning on the island of Borneo.
On the first stop of his first Southeast Asia tour since his appointment in December, Qin arrived in Jakarta on Tuesday and met Widodo and Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi on Wednesday. The leaders discussed a wide range of economic cooperation, including Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative. Qin was there at the invitation of Retno.
During the meeting, Widodo stressed the need for a deeper economic partnership between the two countries, including completion of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail project, construction of a green industrial park in Kalimantan and building the new capital, Nusantara, according to a statement released by the Indonesian government.
President Joko Widodo expressed his optimism over the commencement of the new capital Nusantara’s construction and plans for holding the 79th Independence Day ceremony on August 17, 2024, at the completed capital.
“I just want to convey an optimism that the new capital construction has begun on its infrastructure, office buildings, and here as well, the ministers’ accommodation,” the President remarked while visiting the ministers’ housing development site in East Kalimantan. The housing area consists of 36 houses for cabinet ministers and is expected to be completed by June 2024.
President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) accentuated that the spirit to realize development equity across Indonesia is the impetus behind the decision to relocate the national capital from Jakarta to East Kalimantan.
While opening the XVIII Conference of Muhammadiyah Youth in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, Wednesday (February 22), the president stated that Java Island alone has hosted 56 percent of Indonesia’s population and contributed 59 percent to the national gross domestic product (GDP).
He affirmed that the new capital development not only encompasses relocating government buildings but also realizing a new work culture and mindset through a properly-devised system and development of human resources.
Indonesia is unveiling a slew of tax breaks to lure companies and people to move to its new capital in the heart of Borneo. Banks and insurers operating in Nusantara — as the capital is known — would pay no income tax for up to 25 years if they invest before 2035, according to an investment ministry presentation seen by Bloomberg. Those investing before 2045 can get up to 20 years of tax break.
East Kalimantan Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) Gerindra Party faction Chair Bagus Susetyo at a plenary meeting on Tuesday said China would provide new funds in the amount of IDR37 trillion for the construction of housing for civil servants in the planned capital city of Nusantara.
Bagus also expressed the hope that the Manpower Ministry would be able to put together a special budgetary allocation to support capacity building of human resources in East Kalimantan.
