Indonesia asks Singapore to invest in developing new capital hinh anh 1Indonesian President Joko Widodo (third from left) inspects Bukit Soeharto Tahura area in East Kalimantan province (Photo: AFP/VNA)
 
Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan has called on Singaporean investors to invest in a number of sectors in the country's new capital city in East Kalimantan province.

Indonesia intends to develop a green capital city in the province so investment opportunities are open to investors from Singapore, he said while addressing the Pulse of Asia Conference 2020 organised by Bank DBS in Singapore on January 9.

In the new capital, Indonesia plans to build complete heath facilities with best doctors and develop schools and universities to narrow the gap in education between western and eastern Indonesia in terms of quality, he said.

He unveiled that the government of Indonesia is crafting two bills concerning the creation of job opportunities and taxation to facilitate foreign investors in infrastructure development.

On August 26, President Joko Widodo announced that he had picked East Kalimantan on Borneo island as the location for Indonesia's new capital.

The most ideal location for the new capital is partly in North Penajam Paser regency and partly in Kutai Kartanegara regency, which are near Balikpapan, he said.

Widodo said moving the capital would cost 466 trillion rupiah (32.79 billion USD), of which the state would fund 19 percent, with the rest from public-private partnerships and private investment.

Indonesia’s new capital would be designed as a sustainable smart city, which has an efficient public transport network as well as green electricity and water supply systems.

Jakarta is now home to 10 million people and is sinking due to over-extraction of ground water, as well as being prone to floods and traffic gridlock.

Traffic congestion is costing its economy 7.04 billion USD each year.

The metropolitan region is sinking up to 18cm per year. Its road coverage is much lower than that of other big cities, creating a near-permanent traffic jam./.
VNA