"I call on all of us to pray and work hard with all our might to develop IKN as a gate to accelerate the development in Kalimantan and pray for God's blessing to ease our moves," Jokowi stated in a joint prayer of the Malay-Banjar community in Tabalong District, South Kalimantan, on Friday, broadcast on the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube account.
The president noted that the IKN project is part of the efforts to equalize national development, with the focus to shift from Java-centric to Indonesia-centric development.
Jokowi noted that Indonesia has more than 17 thousand islands, with a total population of 280 million.
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Some 56 percent of the population resides on Java Island and 58 percent of the nation's money circulation is also in Java.
"Then what other islands can get?" the president questioned.
To this end, Jokowi elaborated that the government had continued to develop infrastructure outside Java Island to increase the gross domestic product (GDP) and encourage social justice and prosperity.
"To encourage (the growth) of GDP outside Java. This is to materialize what we call social justice for all people of Indonesia," he remarked.
The idea to move the capital city was initiated by Indonesia's first president, Soekarno, but can only be materialized by Jokowi's administration.
"Maybe in 10-15 years (the development of) our capital city Nusantara can be completed," President Jokowi remarked.
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Translator: Indra A Pribadi, Sri Haryati
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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