President: The Existence Of Bank Indonesia's Office In IKN Increases Investor Confidence

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) believes that the existence of Bank Indonesia's office in the capital city of Nusantara (IKN) can increase the confidence of the business world and investors in Indonesia.

"The existence of this Bank Indonesia office building in IKN can increase public trust, the business world, and investors; because the monetary authority, banking, and payment systems already exist and are ready to support IKN development, ready to support sustainable economic growth in the capital city of Nusantara," Jokowi said at the BI complex's groundbreaking ceremony at IKN, Penajam Regency, East Kalimantan, as monitored in a video broadcast from Jakarta, Thursday, November 2, was confiscated by Antara.

Jokowi explained that the laying of the first stone or groundbreaking proves Indonesia's seriousness, commitment, and readiness in building IKN to become a world-class state capital.

On that occasion, Jokowi again explained the reasons for moving the capital city of Indonesia to East Kalimantan.

"There are still those who ask me, sir, why did we move to East Kalimantan, move to (the capital) Nusantara? There are still those who ask me about it," he said.

Jokowi then explained that the current population of Indonesia has reached 278 million people, of which 56 percent live on the island of Java.

"Fifty-six percent, of the 17,000 islands we have, the population is in Java; 56 percent," he explained.

In addition, Jokowi continued, the national economic turnover of 57-58 percent is also located on the island of Java, especially in Jakarta. So, according to him, the burden on Java and Jakarta islands is beyond the capacity of the area.

Jokowi emphasized that Indonesia also requires equal distribution of development, economy, and infrastructure. Therefore, the relocation of the nation's capital has existed since the 1st President of the Republic of Indonesia Soekarno and the 2nd President of the Republic of Indonesia Suharto.

Jokowi said that nine years ago, when he first served as president of the Republic of Indonesia, he secretly formed a team to look back on the ideas of the Indonesian presidents.

"And finally, after six years of study, calculating and counting, then we (the government) have several options, several choices, and finally we decided on our new capital city, the nation's capital is the archipelago," he explained.

He said 20 percent of the IKN area, which is in the form of basic infrastructure and government buildings, is financed by the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN). Meanwhile, another 80 percent will be given to the private sector.

"I am happy that after the Government starts by building the Presidential Palace, ministerial offices, and others, to this day and our calculations until December, a total of IDR 45 trillion will start its work in the capital city of the archipelago," he said.