Softbank eyes $40b investment in new capital city: Luhut
The Japan-based Softbank Group has offered to invest from
US$30 billion to $40 billion in the development of Indonesia's new capital city, according to a senior minister.
Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said on Friday that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo had yet to make a decision regarding investments connected to the project.
“The President will decide on the matter in February,” Luhut told a press briefing in Jakarta. “We will meet again with [Softbank CEO and founder] Masayoshi Son in Davos and in Tokyo.”
Son met Jokowi in Jakarta last week and expressed an interest in participating in the project. He has been appointed to the steering committee overseeing the capital city’s construction together with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed and former United Kingdom prime minister Tony Blair.
"We won't discuss the specific number yet, but a new smart city, the newest technology, a clean city and a lot of AI [artificial intelligence] — that's what I'm interested in supporting," said Son when asked about how much he would invest in the new capital city after the meeting with Jokowi.
The billionaire is a major investor in well-known technology companies such as international marketplace Alibaba and coworking space WeWork, as well as ride-hailing app Grab.
The United Arab Emirates and the United States had also expressed interest in funding a new capital city in North Penajem Paser and Kutai Kertanegara regencies in East Kalimantan, to diversify away from and ease the burden of the densely populated Jakarta and the broader Java Island.
The new capital city is expected to cost about Rp 466 trillion ($34 billion). In the initial plan, the government expected 54.4 percent of the Rp 466 trillion to come from private-public partnership schemes, while 26.4 percent would be financed by the private sector. The remaining 19.2 percent is expected to be covered by the state budget.
Luhut added that the government was planning to remodel the financing structure in a bid to accommodate foreign investors.
The new city is to host world-class educational institutions, botanical gardens, modern hospitals and an environmentally friendly transportation system, according to government officials.
https://www.thejakartapost.com/amp/...40b-investment-in-new-capital-city-luhut.html
U.S., Japan May Invest in Indonesia Islands Near South China Sea
The U.S., Japan and South Korea are keen to invest in Indonesia’s Natuna Islands as President Joko Widodo steps up efforts to rebuff Chinese claims over the resource-rich waters in the South China Sea.
The countries are interested in building fisheries processing and manufacturing industries in Natuna, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Pandjaitan, told reporters in Jakarta on Friday. Indonesia can manage the sea dispute with China without going into a war, Pandjaitan, a former general, said.
“The U.S. investors have expressed their interest, along with investors from Japan, Korea and China,” Padjaitan said. “For us, it doesn’t matter where they come from.”
Widodo’s efforts to lure foreign investment into the Natuna islands may ratchet up tension with Beijing following the intrusion of Chinese fishing vessels into an area claimed by Indonesia as an exclusive economic zone. Indonesia is not a claimant in the broader dispute over the South China Sea, but it does insist on its sovereign rights to waters around the Natunas.
Beijing says while it has no territorial disputes with Jakarta, claims over maritime interests in certain waters in the South China Sea “overlap.”
“War is the last resort in our negotiation process,” Pandjaitan said referring to the standoff with China on Natuna. “But under no circumstances will we negotiate our sovereignty and territorial rights.”
Jokowi, as Widodo is commonly known, visited the Natuna islands last week and asserted Indonesia’s sovereignty over the waters after authorities deployed fighter jets and warships to push back the Chinese fishing vessels, which were accompanied by coast guard ships. The president also inaugurated a fisheries processing center in the region and days later invited Japan to invest in Natuna to develop the fishing industry.
Indonesia is also seeking investment by Vietnamese marine processing companies. Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi met officials of Hai Nam Co., a seafood importer this week in Ho Chi Minh City, and asked it to explore a joint venture with Indonesian companies for a fisheries processing unit in areas including Natuna, according to a foreign ministry statement Thursday.
It has identified a location in north Natuna for a fishing port, while southern Natuna will serve as a base for the navy, Pandjaitan said.
The country will also soon acquire its first ocean-going vessel, probably from Denmark, to beef up its sea powers, he said.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...slands-near-south-china-sea?srnd=economics-vp
