Jakarta. The new capital’s foreign investors will likely begin building their respective projects after October, according to Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia.

In other words,  the Joko “Jokowi” Widodo government might not see foreign investors breaking ground on their projects because his successor Prabowo Subianto is scheduled to take his oath of office on Oct. 20.

“I think [Nusantara’s foreign investors] will start construction after October,” Bahlil told reporters in Jakarta on Monday.

Indonesia is dedicating the city’s first cluster --which includes key facilities-- to Indonesian companies.. Foreign investors can start coming in the second cluster of the $33 billion capital relocation. 

The government today is building the new capital Nusantara’s basic infrastructure. Some projects are already a work in progress, although they mainly belong to domestic investors. Bahlil also told the press that foreign-owned projects would kick off construction once the basic infrastructure was in place.

“The basic infrastructure is expected to finish construction some time in September, October or even November. … So that means [foreign investors] will start in November or December for the groundbreaking and the construction phase,” Bahlil said.

The minister claimed that these interested foreign investors came from Europe, Asia, and ASEAN. However, he did not say which countries these investors came from, nor did he reveal their names. 

Bahlil also talked of Emaar Properties --the Emirati real estate developer behind the world’s tallest building Burj Khalifa-- possibly making a "huge investment" in Nusantara. Emaar is planning to work on the second cluster of the project, just like other foreign firms. The construction will begin this November or no later than next year.

“But we are still recalculating the final investment value because they [Emaar] have asked us if they could build their project in the second cluster,” Bahlil said.

The capital relocation is currently racing against time as Jokowi wants to host the upcoming Independence Day celebrations in Nusantara. Indonesia’s Independence Day celebration falls on Aug. 17.  Today also officially marks Jokowi’s first day working from Nusantara.

The proposed capital lies in the East Kalimantan province. Government data showed that East Kalimantan attracted Rp 24.4 trillion (almost $1.5 billion) in domestic investments throughout the first half of 2024. This made East Kalimantan the fifth most popular province among domestic investors in that period.