"With Singapore's interest in partaking in IKN (project), it is a significant growth for the Indonesian government to seek investors for IKN development," an economist from Indef Eko Listiyanto said when contacted here on Thursday.
Global investors know Singapore as one of the financial centers of the world, he added.
Listiyanto urged the government to take prompt follow-up action on the signing of the MoU.
"Of course, the MoU, which was signed by the IKN Authority of Indonesia and the Center for Liveable Cities (CLC) of Singapore's National Development Ministry, needs to be followed up immediately," he said.
He also advised that the cooperation between Indonesia and Singapore on the development of IKN Nusantara in East Kalimantan be accompanied by the transfer of knowledge and technology.
"I think it is good that there are big investors from Singapore that joined, considering that Singapore is an epicenter of investors," he said.
The IKN Authority and the CLC of Singapore's National Development Ministry signed the MoU to develop IKN as a liveable city.
The signing of the MoU was carried out by the head of the IKN Authority, Bambang Susantono, and the National Development Minister of Singapore, Desmond Lee, on the sidelines of a leaders’ retreat between Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Singapore on Thursday.
During the leaders' retreat, 20 Singaporean private companies submitted letters of intent (LoIs) for investing in IKN Nusantara.
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Translator: Aji Cakti, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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