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Jokowi makes renewed Nusantara pitch to Singapore
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo pitched his ambitious Nusantara capital city project to Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at their annual retreat on Thursday, generating interest but little else.
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President Joko “Jokowi“ Widodo and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong give a joint news conference at the Istana in Singapore on March 16. (AFP/Edgar Su)
M
eeting with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong for an annual leaders’ retreat on Thursday, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo made another attempt to get the neighboring island nation to invest in his ambitious Nusantara capital city project, after last year’s sales pitch generated discussion but little more.
The efforts saw Jokowi’s Nusantara vision discussed “at length”, Lee said, and culminated in 20 letters of intent from Singapore’s private sector to invest in the project. Observers, however, cautioned that those expressions of interest offered no guarantee of concrete action.
President Jokowi has approached a number of Indonesia’s diplomatic partners in recent years to seek investment in the capital city project, which is expected to cost some Rp 466 trillion (US$32.6 billion). The project was designed to be funded primarily by public-private partnerships and private investments, with state coffers covering only 19 percent of the costs.
Following the withdrawal of SoftBank Group last year, the government has been scrambling to fill the US$30 billion hole left by the Japanese conglomerate’s departure, appealing to countries like China, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United Kingdom for funding.
Yet a year later, no private deals have been signed despite more than 100 letters of intent having been signed by companies hailing from Malaysia, China and the United States.
A similar pattern was observed in Jokowi’s latest visit to Singapore, with Lee seemingly hesitant to pledge any financial support for Jokowi’s project.
“President Jokowi and I discussed [...] his vision for a ‘green’ and ‘smart’ Nusantara. It is a major priority for the President and for Indonesia. Singapore is happy to support the President’s vision. We will contribute toward knowledge-sharing and joint R&D activities,” Lee said in a joint press statement after their bilateral meeting.
