By : Elisabeth Titania Dionne )*
The development of the State Capital (Nusantara) IKN in East Kalimantan is apparently not only considered to benefit the surrounding area, but also to support Malaysia’s economic growth, especially the states of Sabah and Sarawak.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim expressed his support for the development of the IKN. According to him, the construction of the IKN in Kalimantan is believed to support economic growth in Malaysia.
Anwar Ibrahim’s support was conveyed after he met President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) at the Bogor Palace during his first overseas visit as Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Simultaneously with the state visit, 10 Malaysian companies signed letters of intent (LOL) to invest in the capital city of Nusantara in East Kalimantan.
Anwar hopes that the growth of IKN Nusantara can provide benefits to Sabah and Sarawak, greater than what he can do for Sarawak and Sabah.
He assessed that the investment was worth RM 1.66 billion or the equivalent of Rp. 5.9 trillion and the two countries agreed on a business to business MoU collaboration, including in the field of shipping, financing for the green industry, and developing the battery industry.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was sworn in on November 24, 2022, after a two-decade wait and being jailed on sodomy and corruption charges.
In a joint statement between the two heads of state, President Jokowi welcomed the interest of Malaysian investors in the development of the National Archipelago’s IKN.
Jokowi said eleven LoLs had been signed by the Malaysian private sector and had been handed over to the IKN authorities working in the fields of electronics, health, waste management, construction and property.
Previously, the Lol was handed over by the Minister of International Trade and Industry of Malaysia to the Chairman of the IKN Authority, Bambang Susantono and witnessed directly by the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
The Indonesian government itself admits that it requires Rp. 466 trillion to build the IKN mega project which covers an area of 256,142 ha. Where 20 percent of the financing is taken from the state budget and the rest from foreign investors.
In March 2022, the SoftBank Group, which the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said would invest US$100 billion (around Rp. 1,400 trillion) in IKN, withdrew from the mega project.
Bahlil Lahadalia as Minister of Investment said that last month, the proposal from Softbank was unfair, causing the Japanese investor to resign. He said, the proposal submitted by Softbank only benefited them, not the state, and his party did not want to be dictated to.
Meanwhile, Jokowi as President of the Republic of Indonesia has emphasized that the two countries also agreed to strengthen ASEAN cooperation in creating a peaceful and stable region.
ASEAN must be able to play a central role in creating a peaceful, peaceful and stable Indo-Pacific. Regarding Myanmar, his party also agreed to implement five points of consensus and his party also urged the Myanmar junta to implement the five points of consensus.
Jokowi also stressed Malaysia’s commitment to providing protection for migrant workers from Indonesia. He hoped that the One Channel System for recruiting migrant workers would actually be carried out jointly and he also repeated the importance of requesting community learning centers on the peninsula to fulfill the rights of children of migrant workers.
Jokowi hopes that other collaborations, such as the MoU on land borders for the Sebatik and Sinapad River segments as well as sea borders in the Sulawesi Sea and the southern part of the Malacca Strait, can be completed and signed this year.
On a different occasion, Padjadjaran University International Relations expert Teuku Rezasyah said Malaysia’s interest in building the IKN was a success for the Indonesian government in diversifying investment sources after Softbank withdrew.
Rezasyah assessed that under Anwar’s leadership, relations between Indonesia and Malaysia would be even closer because Anwar had participated in self-development activities in Indonesia when he was 30 years old, he observed youth development, and regeneration in a number of major universities in Indonesia.
Meanwhile, an expert on Indonesia-Malaysia relations from the University of Indonesia, Jakarta, Cecep Hidayat said that Malaysia’s interest in IKN was a good opportunity because Indonesia needed investors.
Cecep thinks that this shows that apart from the Middle East, there are also neighboring countries who are interested. He considered that Anwar had a way of doing foreign policy while at the same time prioritizing the national interests of the two countries, this of course became a symbiotic relationship of mutualism.
He considered that Anwar felt that he had always been supported by Indonesia, especially during his downturn after three decades as a prime minister’s reserve, imprisoned and exiled.
Investment in IKN will certainly be good news which shows that not a few investors are interested in investing in IKN Nusantara, including the neighboring country which is located closest to IKN, namely Malaysia.
)* The author is a Gelora Media Institute Contributor