One of leading presidential candidates on Thursday pledged to continue President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's flagship $32 billion new capital city if he wins a 2024 election, giving a boost for an ambitious project hit by delays and investor uncertainty.

Anies Baswedan, a former Jakarta governor who is backed by three political parties, said a law had been passed by the House of Representatives to build Nusantara, as the new capital is known, so whoever wins the presidency must see it through.

"The new capital city is not only an idea. This has become a law and all of us, when being inaugurated for any position, our vow is to implement the law," Anies said at a public event when asked about his commitment to the new capital in East Kalimantan.

Jokowi announced the project in 2019, arguing that Jakarta was congested and sinking.

But Nusantara has faced some problems, including delays due to the pandemic and doubt among some investors that Jokowi's successor would stick with it.

The Centre for Strategic and International Studies last year found nearly 59 percent of 170 experts it interviewed were unsure Nusantara would materialise, citing uncertainty about funding and management.

Jokowi hopes to rely mainly on private funding for the capital, with 20 percent from state coffers.

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