UAE Wants To Get Involved In The Development Of The New Capital Of Indonesia

President Jokowi was greeted directly by Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed when he arrived at the Qasr Al Watan Palace, Abu Dhabi, UAE, Sunday, January 12 evening local time. (Photo by: Setkab)

JAKARTA - The Crown Prince of the United Arab Emirates (UEA) Mohamed Bin Zayed said he wanted to be involved in a new capital development project in Indonesia through the concept of a sovereign wealth fund (SWF).

"So specifically also discussed about the construction of a new capital city. So with this wealth fund the Crown Prince is committed to entering it, "said Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Panjaitan during a press conference at the Emirates Palace Abu Dhabi, Sunday, January 12 evening local time.

Luhut together with Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto, BUMN Minister Erick Tohir, and Indonesian Ambassador to the UAE Husin Bagis held a press conference after accompanying President Jokowi to conduct state events at the Qasr Al Watan Palace Abu Dhabi.

The UAE's desire to be involved in various investments in Indonesia including the construction of a new capital city was conveyed in a bilateral meeting between President Jokowi and Crown Prince of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Mohamed Bin Zayed.

"It was said that the value would be the largest, including IDFC and Softbank, and others," he said.

In response to this, said Luhut, President Jokowi even asked the Crown Prince MBZ to become the steering committee in the construction of the new capital.

"And I think to answer people's questions, later Indonesia will go there or not. So fellow brothers, maybe, maybe, not maybe, what kind of title terms, but Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed's chairman, and the members are some other well-known names. Anyone who occupies it, wants to come from China, from anywhere. But the government conveyed that the construction of government offices is from the state budget, so what is not APBN is the non (cluster) government, "he said.

Biggest Deal

The agreement between Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with 16 collaborations divided by 5 partnerships between the government and 11 collaborations between business actors is said to be the biggest deal in Indonesian history.

"This is what the President said to the Crown Prince as the biggest deal in Indonesia's history in a short time in the Middle East, namely the UAE," said Luhut.

A number of Ministers of the Forward Indonesian Cabinet delivered press statements after accompanying President Jokowi's activities on the first day of his visit to Abu Dhabi, UAE, Sunday, January 12. (Photo by: Setkab)

The cooperation agreement consists of 5 intergovernmental agreements in the fields of religion, education, agriculture, health and counterterrorism.

In addition, there are also 11 business agreements, including in the fields of energy, oil and gas, petrochemicals, ports, telecommunications and research with an estimated total investment value of US $ 22.89 billion or around Ro314.9 trillion.

In addition to economic cooperation, President Jokowi also said that Indonesia wants to make the UAE a partner in modern, moderate and tolerant Islamic education.

"In terms of the amount of investment, many SOEs were involved in chemicals and so on," said Luhut.

For this reason, he, together with BUMN Minister Erick Tohir and Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto as well as Foreign Minister LP Marsudi and other parties continue to work coordinatively in realizing concrete cooperation between the two countries.

"I was appointed by the President (to chair the cooperation team) but actually this is a busy job, so this is actually a teamwork that can complete to be precise in only 7 months," he said.

He emphasized the fact that there was no agreement with such a large cooperation value which the discussion had been completed in a relatively short time. "There has never been a deal that big," said Luhut.