STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT. Nusantara Capital Authority Chair Bambang Susantono on Tuesday said that as of June 29, 256 potential investors have expressed their interest in investing in the new capital city in East Kalimantan. Foreign investors who expressed their interest came from 19 countries, mostly Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, the United States, and China. Indonesian President Jokowi spruiks his planned new $48 billion capital city Nusantara to a room full of global investors. But securing funds for the bold plan is proving to be a hard sell, with formal deals yet to be inked.
Experts say the risk of building a city “in the middle of nowhere” is “extraordinarily high”, while investors are worried the project would stall after Jokowi’s final term as president ends in 2024. The seeming lack of wider investment enthusiasm has experts questioning if the project would run to completion, or be abandoned by a new Indonesian president next year.
Nusantara Capital City Authority (OIKN) Secretary Achmad Jaka Santos Adiwijaya on Tuesday said that OIKN has invited the Disney World theme park’s management and Stanford University to invest in the future Indonesian capital. He said that talks between OIKN and Disney have been on since 2022.
However, the investment process requires a lot of consideration, he emphasized. In addition to inviting Disney to invest in IKN, his side has also invited global universities such as King’s College London and Stanford University to invest in the country’s new capital by opening their campuses to offer their programs.
Won Hee-ryong, Korean Minister of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, visited Bali, Indonesia, meeting the local Minister of Transport, the Minister of the New Capital City, and the Acting Governor of Jakarta. During this visit, he signed a memorandum of understanding for the fourth stage development cooperation of the Jakarta Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system.
On June 22, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport announced the selection of eight projects for this year’s K-City Network initiative, an effort to support the creation of smart cities overseas and expand international cooperation. Four planning projects have been chosen in Uman in Ukraine, the New Capital City of Indonesia, Badr in Egypt, and Agdam in Azerbaijan.
House Commision V member from the Gerindra Party faction Mulyadi criticized the plan of Maritime Affairs and Investment Coordinating Minister Luhut B. Pandjaitan to use foreign workers as supervisors for the construction of the new capital city of Nusantara project.
On the same occasion, House Commission V Chair Lasarus stated that the government’s plan to use foreign workers as overseers for the project was a slap in the face to the Public Works and Housing Ministry. This is thought to indicate that the ministry has been unable to prepare qualified construction human resources for development needs.
Hospital operator Medikaloka Hermina HEAL.JK expects to break ground in August on an international-quality hospital in Indonesia’s planned new capital city of Nusantara, a company director said on Wednesday. The hospital would rank among the first private sector investments in the city of Nusantara, which the Indonesian government is building from the ground up in a former jungle on the island of Borneo at an estimated cost of $32 billion.
