Jakarta. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said Monday that the new capital had caught the eyes of hundreds of investors from home and abroad, but not just anyone can put their money into Nusantara. 

Jokowi claimed that 472 investors had submitted their letters of intent indicating their interest to partake in the Nusantara megaproject. However, the city’s authority body has to review these investors first to see whether they are really capable. The body decided that only less than half of those investors passed the stringent screening, although there is still some process ahead before the investment can actually take shape.

“The capital authority body will select [who will invest in the new capital]. [The body] decided that as many as 220 [of the 472 investors] were serious about investing. So we will choose who gets to invest. No one can make the investment [without getting reviewed],” Jokowi said when launching the construction of private bank BCA’s office building in Nusantara. 

Once the investors finally ink the cooperation agreement, the Spatial Planning Ministry will issue the right-to-build permit no later than eleven days after the signing, according to Jokowi.

Construction work is currently mainly taking place at the so-called core government area which houses the state palace and minister's office buildings, to name a few. Jokowi said the government would focus on building the infrastructure of this area first at least until the end of the year.

The infrastructure development for regions outside the government area will begin in January. Jokowi’s successor Prabowo Subianto should have already assumed office by then.

“But again, we are still prioritizing domestic investors before we can accept foreign ones,” Jokowi said.

Later that day, Jokowi launched the groundbreaking ceremony of the 197-room Swiss-Belhotel Nusantara which aims to finish construction in 15 months.  The Nusantara International Convention Center and Hotel --belonging to the resource-based giant Royal Golden Eagle (RGE)-- also began its construction. Property firm Intiland also broke ground on three projects, including a golf resort and residence.

Early government estimates reported that Indonesia would need $33 billion to build an entirely new capital from scratch. The government is only planning to cover 20 percent of the money with the state budget while handing over the remaining costs to private investors.

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