STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT. President Jokowi’s recent visit to China yielded the fruits of a number of strategic cooperations. The bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping resulted in economic cooperation, one of which was increased market access for Indonesian products in China. Jokowi also emphasized the importance of maintaining peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific for all countries, including China.
Maritime Affairs and Investment Coordinating Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan also said that Indonesia and China had reached an agreement on urban planning for the national capital city (IKN) of Nusantara. According to Luhut, cooperation between the IKN Authority and the Shenzhen city government is essential for the city’s development planning so that the design and specifics of the urban planning can be completed within the next six months.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has agreed with Chinese President Xi Jinping that they will advance cooperation on a project to build Indonesia’s new capital. Indonesia’s presidential office said the two leaders discussed the construction of a site on East Kalimantan, where the Indonesian capital is to be relocated from Jakarta. China’s foreign ministry said Xi told Joko that Beijing will offer cooperation in such areas as so-called new energy vehicles, including electric cars, and smart city technologies.
The Balik and Paser Indigenous communities worry that traditions risk becoming supplanted by Indonesia’s new capital city on the east coast of Borneo. More than half of the new capital estate could be considered customary territory, according to the Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance of the Archipelago. Indigenous elders said that if rituals are to be conserved, then the customary territories must be maintained, while the local government says it is working on programs to uphold local culture.
Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi said on Tuesday that Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee and his business delegation have shown a strong commitment to investing in the new capital city of Nusantara (IKN). Retno noted that the visitors viewed Indonesia’s economic development positively. She expressed optimism that Indonesia’s stable economic condition would drive Hong Kong’s business delegation to decide to cooperate with the country. Hence, the government will hold a business meeting with the Hong Kong delegation on Wednesday to discuss efforts to strengthen cooperation, including their commitments to investing in IKN.
The government intends to build several train services in the new capital, Nusantara in East Kalimantan. To accomplish this, the Transportation Ministry is exploring collaboration with various parties. One of them, cooperation in railway development, was carried out when Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi met with China Railway International (CRIC) President Director Ju Guojiang.
Indonesian Transportation Community (MTI) Deputy Chair Djoko Setijowarno said that investors or any party can become partners in the development of railways at the new capital. However, there must be a clear agreement to avoid harming Indonesia with cost overruns, as occurred in the Jakarta–Bandung high-speed rail project.
The electricity cable system in Jakarta is estimated to be more than 80,000 km long, which is sufficient to circle the Earth more than twice. A chaotic mess of cables dangling overhead is indeed a common scene along the streets in big cities across Indonesia – sometimes the jumble of wires strung atop is heavy enough to leave poles tilting. Electrical cables are frequently co-located alongside telecommunications, multimedia and data cables – the result of immature planning for cable installation.
In part to resolve Jakarta’s urban pains, the government has pledged to build a new Indonesian capital city Nusantara, in East Kalimantan. Nusantara will apply the “smart city” concept, using multi-utility tunnels for the installation of a host of public services, including electrical lines, fibre optical cables for telecommunications, and water pipes. The goal in Nusantara is to no longer have a network of cables above the ground, which will minimise the need for public disruption.
Minister Bahlil said that he has accompanied President Jokowi to meet Indonesian conglomerates to discuss the Nusantara national capital (IKN) investment. According to Bahlil, domestic investment in the project has reached IDR40 trillion. He explained that the investment along with the foreign investment will be utilized in the first phase of IKN development, after the basic infrastructure development.
Economic Affairs Coordinating Minister Airlangga Hartarto met former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Jakarta, discussing a number of issues, ranging from artificial intelligence (AI), National Strategic Projects, potential collaborations in the fields of investment, trade, digitalization and financial inclusion, to the Nusantara capital city (IKN) project. Airlangga said that Tony Blair would endorse the matter of investing in Nusantara. Blair has advised that Indonesia put in more effort to conclude its negotiations for its trade pact with the European Union due to the trading bloc’s sizable bureaucracy, according to Airlangga. Airlangga said that Blair had given Indonesia some advice on how it can reach an agreement with the European Union by the target date.
Indonesia is readying a fleet of drones to launch over Nusantara, its new capital city, as part of efforts to protect the under-construction site in Borneo from wildfires, officials told Mongabay. “The information can be used to find out where potential fires might occur, the source of water to extinguish fire, and for the purposes of evacuating the community in the event of a fire,” the technology office of Otoritas Ibu Kota Negara (OIKN), the new capital authority, told Mongabay in a prepared statement.
The OIKN said it intended to launch vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) drones to capture imagery of the site from above, adding that the precise number and type of drone is still under consideration.
Indonesia’s government currently prioritizes completing development of the new capital city (IKN) Nusantara, East Kalimantan, and apart from completing infrastructure development, the government also ensures food availability for IKN’s residents that should be prepared early.
Starting at the end of 2023 or early 2024, some state civil apparatus will start working from IKN. Their relocation must be accompanied by the fulfillment of basic needs, such as water, electricity, and food.
Until now, East Kalimantan Province, with a population of 3.79 million people, still needs to procure its food supply from external parties. With the existence of IKN Nusantara, which increases the number of residents, the region certainly needs a way to fulfill its food availability.
