Jokowi Welcomes Singapore's Interest In Building IKN

JAKARTA - Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) welcomed the interest of Singaporean investors to be involved in the development of the Nusantara State Capital (IKN).

The President conveyed this in a joint press conference with Singaporean Prime Minister (PM) Lee Hsien Loong after the 2023 Indonesian-Singapore Leaders' Retret in Singapore, quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, March 16.

"I welcome some of the results of the Leaders' Retreat, the first is the interest of Singaporean investors for the development of IKN Nusantara," Jokowi said in a press conference broadcast live on the official YouTube channel of the Presidential Secretariat.

The President revealed that from the Leaders' Retret there were 20 private Singaporean companies that had submitted an interest letter or "Letter of Intent" (LoI) to invest in IKN Nusantara.

On the same occasion, PM Lee stated that IKN Nusantara would be a pilot project for the Singapore-Indonesia memorandum of understanding (MoU) regarding the development of urban and sustainable housing.

"We signed an MoU for urban and sustainable housing development which will facilitate cooperation in development, funding, and smart and sustainable infrastructure innovation, especially we will include the archipelago as a pilot project," said Lee.

PM Lee admitted that in the March Leadership, he and President Jokowi briefly discussed IKN Nusantara.

PM Lee praised President Jokowi's green and intelligent vision of IKN Nusantara.

"Singapore is happy to support President Jokowi's vision, contributing through knowledge sharing activities, research activities, and joint development," he said.

PM Lee added that one of the MoUs signed by Singapore-Indonesia in this Meeting Retret includes collaboration in knowledge sharing, capacity enrichment, research to support the planning, development of IKN Nusantara as a smart, and sustainable city.

Singaporean PM confirmed several private sectors in the country have expressed interest in the IKN Nusantara project.

Therefore, PM Lee has conveyed to President Jokowi that his party is welcoming an investor forum related to the archipelago which is planned to be held by Indonesia in May 2023.

"We will encourage Singaporean entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs to participate in it," Lee said.