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Jokowi to talk IKN investments during Singapore retreat: Govt
The Cabinet Secretariat says the President is expected to discuss investments to finance the nation's new capital during the annual bilateral retreat on Thuesday.
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A security guard walks past information boards at “ground zero” at the site of Indonesia's new capital, Nusantara, in Sepaku, East Kalimantan province. (Reuters/Willy Kurniawan)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is in Singapore on Thursday to attend the annual Singapore-Indonesia Leaders’ Retreat with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, during which the President is likely discuss investments in the Nusantara capital city (IKN) development project, the Cabinet Secretariat said in a press release.
The President has been approaching some of Indonesia’s diplomatic allies in recent years to secure investments for the IKN project, which has an estimated cost of Rp 466 trillion (US$32.6 billion). The ambitious project was designed to be funded primarily by public-private partnerships (PPP) and private investments, with the state budget covering only 19 percent of its total cost.
Following the withdrawal of SoftBank Group last year, the government has been scrambling to refinance the Japanese conglomerate’s $30 billion investment, appealing to countries like China, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United Kingdom to help fund the project.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office of Singapore, the agenda includes a review of the two countries’ bilateral cooperation on economic, sociocultural and security affairs, as well as several memorandums of understanding (MoU) on developing energy, sustainability, health and human capital.
“Cooperation in the economic, digital, health and renewable energy fields will be the focus of discussion,” said Foreign Minister Retno L.P. Marsudi, who arrived one day ahead of Jokowi.
Also joining the presidential delegation were Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto, Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin and Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi.
Danis Hidayat Sumadilaga, who heads the IKN infrastructure development task force, and Henri Alfiandi, the head of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), were also part of the President’s entourage.
