Willing To Help Indonesia Build The Capital Of The Archipelago, Asian Development Bank: There Is Technical Support And International Conference

JAKARTA - After being left by SoftBank, Indonesia will receive assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in building the Capital of the Archipelago (IKN).

This assurance was conveyed by a senior ADB official, Ahmed M. Saeed. However, in this case, ADB will not be sure to disburse the loan funds.

As quoted by Reuters, Ahmed said that his party would provide international knowledge so that Indonesia could design and finance the development of IKN. "Our support is more technical, including setting up an international conference," said Ahmed.

ADB's statement came after SoftBank withdrew from its investment plan in IKN. In fact, Softbank had planned to invest up to 100 billion US dollars.

On the other hand, the Head of the IKN Authority, Bambang Susantono, said he wanted to learn how to build a carbon-neutral and inclusive city.

The emergence of various investors in the development of IKN has been planned by President Joko Widodo. Jokowi once said that the government would only finance half of the total IKN costs, and the rest would come from private and foreign investment.

As is known, SoftBank Group confirmed that it did not invest in the Indonesian project to build Indonesia's new capital city in Kalimantan.

"We did not invest in this project, but we continue to invest in Indonesia through the SoftBank Vision Fund portfolio company," SoftBank said in a statement.

Previously, in 2019, Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced plans to move the Indonesian capital from Jakarta. SoftBank chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son were appointed a member of the steering committee for the project, along with Abu Dhabi crown prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

In January 2020, Son met with Joko Widodo and other ministers in Jakarta to discuss potential projects.