Indonesia consortium invests 20 trillion rupiah in new capital
A CONSORTIUM of Indonesian companies, including energy firm Adaro and conglomerate Astra International, has invested about 20 trillion rupiah (S$1.8 billion) in the country’s new capital city, said the local authority.
Indonesia has been courting private investors for the US$32 billion city, known as Nusantara, with the intention to move the capital away from congested Jakarta to Borneo island.
Aside from Adaro and Astra, the consortium also includes property firm Agung Sedayu Group, retailer Alfamart, energy company Barito Pacific, and conglomerates Sinarmas and Salim Group, among others, the Nusantara authority said on Thursday (Sep 21).
It is unclear where the investment would go, although on Thursday, President Joko Widodo launched the construction of a five-star hotel in Nusantara by the consortium.
The president, commonly known as Jokowi, said domestic investors must be prioritised over foreign ones.
“If not, I will get complaints,” he said, adding that potential investors from South Korea, Japan, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates had shown interest after visiting the new capital.
The government has said only 20 per cent of the total budget will come from its coffers, and the rest from private investment. Indonesia has earmarked 40.6 trillion rupiah for the construction of Nusantara in its 2024 Budget.
Jokowi said an airport at Nusantara is expected to be completed next year. On Friday, he launched the construction of a football training centre.
Previously, hospital operator Medikaloka Hermina said it would invest 240 billion rupiah to build a hospital in the new capital, with a target for it to be operational by August 2024. REUTERS
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