JAKARTA: Indonesia's Minister of Public Works and Public Housing, Basuki Hadimuljono, announced that seven investors are scheduled to commence groundbreaking activities at the new Indonesian capital, IKN Nusantara, in East Kalimantan, in September 2024.
"There will be seven investors conducting groundbreaking at IKN," he remarked after attending a work meeting on Wednesday, reported ANTARA news agency.
Hadimuljono revealed that the groundbreaking would be conducted for educational buildings, hotels, property, and sports centres.
The IKN Authority (OIKN) also noted that 45 investors have carried out the groundbreaking procession in stages 1 to 6. Meanwhile, the groundbreaking for stage 7 on August 12 involved four investors: BCA, Swiss-Belhotel, Royal Golden Eagle, and Intiland.
Earlier, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) called on newly appointed Minister of Investment Rosan Roeslani to bring foreign investment into IKN.
"For investment development at IKN, we also hope investment comes from foreign investors. Given my background in investment so far, we are pursuing foreign investment because local investors have continued to come in," Roeslani noted on August 20.
He noted that foreign investment is anticipated, particularly from countries like Singapore, which have made significant investments in Indonesia and are well-acquainted with the country's investment climate.
Clear regulations regarding investment are expected to attract foreign investment, he said.
However, he reminded that Indonesia should also compete with neighbouring countries that continue to reform policies in their countries.
President Jokowi urged Roeslani to continue to fulfil the investment target determined at Rp1,650 trillion (US$103 billion), with 50.3 per cent having been achieved.
He also pressed to continue the downstreaming of minerals, such as nickel and bauxite, as well as of agriculture and plantations.
Such tasks should be accelerated in the remaining two months of the Onward Indonesia Cabinet tenure.