
Indonesia is set to begin construction of a new capital on Borneo island later this year/Bloomberg
by BloombergA senior member of President Joko Widodo’s cabinet said that SoftBank Group has offered to invest between $30 billion to $40 billion towards the development of new Indonesian capital.
SoftBank Chief Executive Officer and founder Masayoshi Son met President Widodo in Jakarta last week and expressed his interest in joining the project. The billionaire has already been appointed to the steering committee overseeing the city’s construction.
Luhut Pandjaitan, the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investments, said, “I will meet Masayoshi in Davos and then Tokyo and the president will decide on the matter in February 2020.”
The size of the investment proposal from the Japanese company is puzzling as Indonesia has estimated the total cost of building the new capital at around $34 billion.
In 2018, the company signed an MoU to support a planned $200 billion solar project in Saudi Arabia. SoftBank and the Public Investment Fund have said they are continuing to collaborate on solar energy plans after reports that the project was put on hold.
Similarly, the Cabinet Secretariat said that the UAE plans to invest in building Indonesia’s new capital and develop properties in Aceh province. The investment agreements covering sectors from energy and telecommunications were signed during President Joko Widodo’s visit to Abu Dhabi.
Indonesia is set to begin construction of a new capital on Borneo island later this year as President Widodo seeks to decongest a fast-sinking Jakarta. Son joins a long list of global investors keen to participate in the relocation project.
The new city is expected to have world-class educational institutions, modern hospitals botanical gardens and an environmentally friendly transportation system. Investors from China, the Middle East and the US have shown interest in developing the city, said Pandjaitan.
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