JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s new president, Prabowo Subianto, plans to spend 48.8 trillion rupiah ($2.99 billion) by 2029 to build the new capital “Nusantara”, with the aim of relocating the government by 2028, the project manager said on Tuesday.
Construction of the $32 billion Nusantara project in the jungles of Borneo island, a project first launched by former President Joko Widodo, begins in 2022 after years of delays due to the pandemic.
Widodo wanted to move the capital 1,200 km from congested and sinking Jakarta to the island of Java, but analysts predicted that Prabowo would not be as ambitious as his predecessor for what could be a proposed white elephant.
Widodo spent 75.8 trillion rupiah between 2022 and 2024 on this project, according to Finance Ministry data.
Nusantara authority head Basuki Hadimuljono told reporters that the next phase of construction would focus on housing and office buildings for Parliament and the judiciary, with most of the executive branch offices ready.
The government will continue to work to attract private investment to help build the city, he said, adding that Malaysian company Citadel Group and other investors will soon launch their investments in hotels, housing and office buildings, with a total value of 6.5 trillion rupees.
($1 = 16,330.0000 rupees)