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Elections won’t affect IKN, Jokowi tells potential investors
Jokowi revisited his sales pitch to Singaporean investors on Wednesday in the hope of securing funding for the Nusantara capital project, a legacy program the President has fought hard to keep afloat.
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President Joko “Jokowi“ Widodo speaks about the planned new capital Nusantara, at Ecosperity Week in Singapore on June 7, 2023. (Reuters/Edgar Su)
No matter who wins in next year’s general elections, the Nusantara capital city (IKN) project will continue apace and offer peace of mind for would-be investors, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo promised an audience of Singaporean investors on Wednesday, in his latest attempt to lure foreign funds from the neighboring island state.
The ambitious relocation of Indonesia’s capital has faced multiple hurdles including in financing, owing partly to current global economic headwinds and the fact that a completely new government could be sworn in next year.
But the Indonesian government, Jokowi reassured, was committed to ensuring the success of the capital city project, with basic infrastructure scheduled for completion next year, guaranteed in part by allocations from state coffers.
With only one year left of his administration, Jokowi has sought to pull out all the stops to lure foreign investments, including by issuing regulations described by the state as providing “the maximum possible amount of incentives” in the form of tax holidays and decades-long permits.
Singapore, already Indonesia’s largest source of foreign direct investment, has been earmarked by Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan as a key strategic partner for the development of the Rp 466 trillion (US$32.6 billion) project, despite the neighbor’s previous hesitancy to commit to anything beyond pledges.
In March, Jokowi met with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong for a lengthy discussion on the IKN project, resulting in Lee’s promise for knowledge-sharing and letters of intent (LoI) from private companies – but short of any actual deals. Then, at a tour of the Nusantara site last week by a 130-strong Singaporean business delegation, Luhut urged that previous pledges be quickly followed up.
