By: Aulia Hawa )*
Many countries such as Saudi Arabia to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are reported to have an interest in investing in the development project of the National Capital. This enthusiasm shows that the National Capital City (IKN) has good prospects. SoftBank’s withdrawal from the IKN project does not seem to have stopped the government from continuing its efforts to continue the IKN development.
The Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Menko Marves) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said that currently there are several potential investors who will fund the IKN Nusantara project. So far, there are investors from five countries who are ready to fund the construction of the Nusantara IKN. He added that there were no problems with investors in the new capital city, where currently officials related to investors from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have invested US$20 billion for the construction of IKN Nusantara in East Kalimantan.
Luhut said, “Negotiations continue to be carried out by the Government of Indonesia. Initial negotiations for the five countries were carried out first with Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and China. Not only that, the government is still optimistic that IKN project funding will be financed by local investors.”
Previously, SoftBank, which is an investor from Japan, has stated that it is withdrawing from IKN investment. Now the steering board has been filled by the Crown Prince of the UAE Mohamed bin Zayed (MBZ) and the former British prime minister from 1997-2007, Toni Blair.
Luhut said, “Many of our local businessmen also want it.
Meanwhile, from the Saudi Arabian government, we will see the negotiations again, then later there may be an Abu Dhabi consortium with China. Later, we will conduct negotiations with other countries.
Indonesia also hopes for capital flows from the UAE and Saudi Arabia to enter Indonesia without going through SoftBank. The Indonesian government itself has received a commitment of USD 20 billion from the UAE through the Indonesia Investment Authority (INA).
Luhut also took the initiative to form an integrated team ready to be flown to Riyadh to follow up on this commitment. On a different occasion, the Governor of East Kalimantan, Isran Noor, claimed that the IKN located in East Kalimantan has attracted investment from the international community. He said a number of developed countries in Europe and East Asia had begun to take interest.
Isran said the government would certainly be more selective in choosing countries to cooperate with to prevent losses.
It is estimated that the construction cost of the new capital will reach Rp 466 trillion, of which 19 percent will come from the APBN and the rest will come from PPPs (Government Cooperation with Business Entities) as well as direct investment from the private sector and SOEs.
Head of the Research, Development and Innovation Agency of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Agus Justianto, said that based on the Meratus Production Forest Management Unit’s Long-Term Forest Management Plan, the new National Capital arena is located in a certain area with the Community Empowerment Production Forest block.
LIPI historian Asvi Warman Adam argues, If later the capital city is moved, Indonesia will write gold ink into Indonesian political history. Where Indonesia will make a new capital city, not the capital of the colonial era heritage.
Moving the capital city to Kalimantan is a wise solution to reduce problems in Jakarta, such as traffic jams. In addition, there are many other problems, such as a dense population, to land subsidence which results in flooding.
The interest of investors from several countries who want to be involved in the IKN project must, of course, be utilized as well as possible. Because with this financial support, the IKN development in North Penajam Paser, East Kalimantan, will certainly be realized faster.
)* The author is a contributor to the Pertiwi Institute