By: Abdul Makmun)*
Former British prime minister Tony Blair confirmed that he would support the Nusantara Capital State (IKN) project and also help promote it to foreign investors. The trust of this important world figure proves that the relocation of IKN has bright prospects.
The National Capital City development project in East Kalimantan was rejected by NGOs because it was considered too ambitious and did not accommodate local residents. But in fact this is actually a wrong assessment. Because the former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair himself admitted that he was ready to promote this IKN internationally.
The promotional event that Tony Blair wants to make is especially for investors who come from various countries. Of course, it is not without reason that the IKN Nusantara project is very much supported by people like Tony Blair. The reason is that there is no doubt that President Joko Widodo and Indonesia have always had a good reputation on the world stage.
Armed with this good reputation, of course the opportunity will not be wasted by various parties including Tony Blair so that economic growth in Indonesia continues to increase, especially after being hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the former British PM also admitted that it turned out that several parties from the international community had stated that they wanted to participate in supporting the IKN Nusantara project as well.
Some of the international parties admitted that they were very interested in the education, health and industry sectors, all of which would be worked on at IKN later. One of the things that is very important for Tony Blair so that the IKN Nusantara project is able to attract investors even from various countries, is that there must be a good communication strategy.
The government is very enthusiastic about welcoming the plan because it is a golden opportunity to accelerate the growth of the national economy. The Head of the Authority, Bambang Susantono, stated that a follow-up meeting with Tony Blair was scheduled to be held in September 2022 to discuss several further matters regarding the IKN Nusantara project. One of these matters is the discussion of future strategic steps regarding the preparation and implementation of IKN development and most importantly the foreign investment strategy.
It was previously known that Tony Blair himself is a person who is quite active in conducting studies and even paying special attention to Indonesia. He did all of this in his own institution, the Tony Blair Institute (TBI) for Global Change. Not only that, this man who was born in 1953 is also a person who has good relations with investors.
Meanwhile, on the other hand, as explained by Bambang Susantono, the Archipelago Capital Authority itself is currently continuing to develop an Archipelago master plan that intends to utilize the latest technology. The main focus is on innovation and also the creation of an ecosystem that can certainly improve the quality of life of the community and also become an example of a new model for future city management.
In his meeting with Blair, the Head of OIKN also briefly explained how the concept of One Map, One Plan, One Policy (1MPP) is a form of integrated IKN development planning so that all planning from ministry or agency activities can be consolidated only through one channel.
With the support that has been directly confirmed by Tony Blair as well as several possibilities of international investor interest in several sectors, it is hoped that it can build optimism for other investors to join in building IKN Nusantara. With the large number of foreign investors, it is hoped that IKN can be realized soon and the country’s progress can be realized soon.
)* The author is a contributor to the Nusantara Reading Room