STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT-Jakarta. The new capital Nusantara city’s average development and building construction progress has reached 25 percent, Minister of Public Works and Public Housing, Basuki Hadimuljono, has informed.
Responding to journalists’ queries at the Presidential Palace complex, he said that some facilities and utilities developed by the ministry in the new capital include the government core area, ministers’ housing, roads, and waste and wastewater management installations, among others.
Maritime Affairs and Investment Coordinating Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan made a working visit to China, meeting with China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) Chair Zheng Shanjie.
During the meeting, Luhut and Zheng discussed several cooperation projects between Indonesia and China, including the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway, the Global Maritime Fulcrum-Belt Road Initiative (GMF-BRI), and projects in Nusantara capital city.
Luhut also invited Zheng to visit Indonesia to review the progress of China-Indonesia joint projects. Luhut said that China is Indonesia’s third biggest investor, with a total investment value of $30.8 billion from 2014 to 2022.
Nusantara Capital Authority Chair Bambang Susantono during a meeting with House Commission II said the authority has received 167 letters of interest (LoIs) from 16 countries for investment in different development projects in the new capital.
Domestic investors have also sent quite as many LoIs as foreign ones, he said. Susantono said the government is planning to use just 25 percent of the total area of the Nusantara capital city for the development of residential and public facilities, while reforestation would be carried out in the remaining area.
During a meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol, Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi expressed her gratitude for South Korea’s contribution to the development of the Nusantara capital city.
Minister Retno also expressed hope that South Korea could continue to strengthen cooperation in the development of a battery-powered vehicle ecosystem.
