NUSANTARA: Letters of intent were signed by 11 companies from peninsula to commit interest in the Indonesia’s future Nusantara Capital City (IKN), said Consulate General of Indonesia in Kota Kinabalu (KJRI) Consul General Rafail Walangitan.
It was signed during a meeting between then Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in Kuala Lumpur and then in Jakarta, he said.
“We are hoping that in the near future there will be companies from Sabah that can take part in doing business in this new capital of Indonesia,” Rafail said.
He was speaking during a briefing by the Middle Expert Financial Analyst, Deputy for Funding and Investment of the Nusantara Capital Authority (NCA), Igor Mangunsong, on the IKN development progress at Swissotel, the first 5-star hotel to be established at the IKN.
Rafail and his senior officers were leading a delegation from Sabah comprising State Industrial Development and Industrial Development Minister Datuk Phoong Jin Zhe, Sabah China Chamber of Commerce (SCCC) President Datuk Frankie Liew and executive members, Air Asia Director of Government Relations Zamani Rafique, businessmen, travel agents, and media on a three-day visit to IKN.
The delegation also visited the Nusantara Command Centre which provides real-time monitoring to the development, progress and others in the IKN.
“Since two years ago, there has been much discussion about the shifting of Indonesia’s capital from Jakarta to Nusantara, so now we are here, obviously seeing is believing,” Rafail said.
“We are here not only to see the latest development of the IKN but also to seek opportunities in terms of trade, tourism, and investment, as well as other cooperation,” he said.
He noted that the location between Kota Kinabalu and Nusantara is not that far away.
“The distance between Kota Kinabalu and Nusantara is only around 800km, even shorter than from Kota Kinabalu to Kuching, which is more than 1,000km. Even the direct flight from Kota Kinabalu to Manado is farther at about 900km,” Rafail estimated.
He recalled that during a meeting between Jokowi and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in Kuala Lumpur and also in Jakarta, about 11 letters of intent were signed by 11 companies from Peninsular Malaysia.
“So I hope this is not our first and last visit to Nusantara. In the future, we will arrange this kind of visit after several stages of development of Nusantara.
“Because we have seen that Nusantara has been progressing very well,” he said.
To date, about 94.4 per cent of batch one has been completed, including the Presidential Palace, and batch two, which consists of housing for state civil servants and defence and security personnel, has already been 62 per cent completed.
