Jakarta. Indonesia’s ambitious new capital megaproject is set to enter the second phase of development starting next year and making the quiet city more vibrant with shopping centers, among others, will be a top priority. 

Indonesia plans to move its capital from the congested Jakarta to a forest city in East Kalimantan and has spent the past few years focusing on building the city’s basic infrastructure and government-related buildings. The second phase of the development is set to start next year and will go on until 2029. 

President-Elect Prabowo Subianto is set to take his oath of office this October. The term of office in Indonesia lasts five years, meaning that the second phase of the development of the future capital which is known as Nusantara will take place under Prabowo’s watch. Prabowo, who claimed that he had invested in the city as a businessman, had promised to expedite the new capital development.

As the start date for the second phase of construction nears, National Development Planning Minister Suharso Monoarfa told the press on Tuesday that the next stage of development would focus on building what he called the “economic crowd”.

“So we will put a great deal of our energy into building an economic crowd as big as possible.  Making a lively city means that the construction should not only be limited to building an administrative capital … So we will see construction of stores, shopping malls, hospitals, schools, and so on,” Suharso said in Jakarta. 

“If we take a look at Jakarta, economic crowd refers to facilities that make people happy. That includes cafes for people to hang out and more public facilities,” Suharso told reporters. 

However, the government wants private investors --be it those coming from home and abroad-- to fund the next round of development. Early government estimates revealed that it would cost Indonesia $33 billion to build Nusantara entirely from scratch. But the government plans to mainly bank on private investors to cover the costs.

Since 2022, the Indonesian government has allocated Rp 75 trillion (about $4.9 billion) in spending for this capital relocation megaproject, government data showed. The new capital recently broke ground on its Nusantara Duty-Free Mall which is part of the real estate tycoon Sugianto Kusuma-led Nusantara Consortium. 

S​​​​​uharso, however, claimed that he did not remember the interested private investors that were looking to partake in the next stage of development. 

“There are around 80 foreign investors. But it is best to ask the city’s authority body on when these investors would break ground on their projects,” the minister said. 

The new capital project is set to be one of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s biggest legacies in his 10 years of ruling the country. Jokowi has also started working from the new capital although he would make trips around the country.

Earlier this year, Jokowi said that Nusantara had been popular among international investors, but Indonesia decided to be picky. In other words, any interested investors would have to undergo a stringent screening process and prove that they are capable of investing in Nusantara.