Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Nusantara Capital City Authority (OIKN) invites Finland to participate in building the Nusantara National Capital (IKN Nusantara) in East Kalimantan.

"Nusantara will be developed as a city that focuses on the happiness and well-being of its people, so we welcome the collaboration with Finland, which has the trademark as the happiest country in the world," Head of OIKN Bambang Susantono noted in a statement in Jakarta on Wednesday.

OIKN and Business Finland held a virtual business forum related to the development of Nusantara (IKN) as a smart city. The forum was attended by companies, municipalities, and the representatives of Finnish ministries, online.

Susantono welcomed the collaboration in building Nusantara as a smart sustainable forest city, a new paradigm in development.

Meanwhile, OIKN Deputy for Green and Digital Transformation Ali Berawi stated that Nusantara's vision is to become a sustainable smart city as well as an elaboration between Nusantara's development goals and its people's happiness index.

"The vision for the Nusantara Capital City is to be the happiest city by utilizing technological advancements," Berawi remarked.

Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland Petri Peltonen said his side is committed to working together to serve as a bridge between Finland and Nusantara.

His ministry wants to connect Finnish companies with opportunities to participate in the opening of a new world-class capital city project, Peltonen remarked.

The forum was continued with the Intergovernmental discussions (G2G), which is OIKN, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland, Indonesian Ambassador to Finland, and Finnish Ambassador to Indonesia.

The forum was attended by representatives from the City of Tampere, City of Espoo, Smart City Innovation Clusters, along with representatives from companies, including Nokia, Wärtsilä, Kone, Helvar, and Sitowise.

Nusantara is the future capital of the State of Indonesia that is determined and regulated by Law Number 3 of 2022. It is located on the east coast of the island of Kalimantan.

The area of Nusantara is almost four times of Jakarta, which is approximately 256,142 hectares and the sea area is 68,189 hectares.

Nusantara will change the orientation of development to become Indonesia-centric and will have a function to accelerate the country's economic transformation.

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Translator: Cindy Frishanti Octavia
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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