Jakarta. Indonesia’s largest private bank BCA broke ground on its news office in the country’s new capital on Monday, thus officially joining other financial institutions that have already begun their respective Nusantara projects.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo launched the groundbreaking ceremony on Monday, shortly after chairing the first-ever cabinet meeting that took place in Nusantara. Jokowi did not say how much BCA had invested to build its Nusantara office, nor did he reveal the deadline for the construction. However, Jokowi said that he hoped that an investment by a bank of BCA’s caliber could convince other investors to follow in its footsteps.

“If BCA is brave enough to invest in Nusantara, this shows that investing in the new capital is incredibly profitable,” Jokowi said.

“I’m pretty sure that BCA made thorough calculations prior to investing, even using not just two, but ten calculators. BCA will give [the other investors] assurance. There is no way that BCA would have the guts to invest in Nusantara if they won’t make any profit from this project,” Jokowi said.

State-run banks BNI, Bank Mandiri, and BRI already started the construction of their Nusantara offices. Aside from BCA’s office, Jokowi will lead a series of groundbreaking ceremonies later that day.

The government is mainly relying on private investments to fund the $33 billion capital relocation megaproject. Private funding will cover 80 percent of the total costs, while state money will only make up 20 percent of the financing. Earlier that day, Jokowi told the cabinet meeting that he wanted to see Nusantara as a financial center in addition to being a capital that boasts a thriving green and digital economy. 

According to Jokowi, as many as 472 investors have submitted their letters of intent (LoI) to take part in building Nusantara from scratch. These investors underwent some screening by the city’s authority body, and only 220 institutions were considered eligible to invest in the megaproject.

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