Jakarta (ANTARA) – President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) on Thursday said that South Korea has agreed to support the development of the country’s new capital (IKN) Nusantara with a total investment of US$6.37 billion.
“We have also started cooperation in the development of the Nusantara IKN, (which includes) among other things, cooperation in the development of drinking water systems and capacity building in constructing a smart city,” Jokowi informed at a joint press conference with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol in Seoul on Thursday.
As part of South Korea’s support for IKN development, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on investment cooperation was signed by Indonesian steel company PT Krakatau Steel, the Ministry of Investment, and South Korea’s POSCO Holdings.
Krakatau Steel and POSCO agreed to invest in the expansion of steel production capacity, especially for the production of electric vehicles, and the development of IKN Nusantara. Investment under the cooperation is estimated to reach US$3.5 billion.
The South Korean government also agreed to build a wastewater treatment plant for IKN Nusantara in East Kalimantan Province.
“The total investment value reaches US$6.37 billion and will absorb more than 58 thousand workers,” Jokowi said. Meanwhile, Indonesian Minister of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Basuki Hadimuljono earlier said that South Korea had agreed to four concrete forms of cooperation in the infrastructure sector to help develop Nusantara.
“First, the South Korean Ministry of Environment, through a grand program, will help build a water purification installation with a capacity of 300 liters per second. We saw it yesterday at the Hwaseong Water Purification Plant,” Hadimuljono, who accompanied President Jokowi to South Korea, informed.
The second collaboration will involve the construction of a wastewater treatment plant at IKN Nusantara, the minister said in a press statement.
“For the third collaboration, we visited the Busan Eco Delta Smart City and Smart Village in 2019, when the groundbreaking was also attended by President Jokowi,” the minister said.
The government will build a similar smart village in IKN Nusantara consisting of 100 housing units as a pilot project, he informed.
The construction of the smart village is planned to begin in 2023 with South Korea’s assistance.
South Korea will also help Indonesia build an immerse tunnel connecting IKN Nusantara and Balikpapan, based on the IKN Nusantara’s concept of a forest city.
The tunnel construction will start in 2023, Hadimuljono said.
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