North Penajam Paser, East Kali (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) expressed his satisfaction over the progress in development of the new capital city (IKN) Nusantara in East Kalimantan on Wednesday.

"We come to officiate the groundbreaking of several infrastructure projects and review the ongoing construction work," he remarked while reviewing the construction of Nusantara Hotel in IKN.

Jokowi said that he was also pleased to see that the development progress of IKN Nusantara is still on time. Some buildings will become operational in early August 2024.

Data from the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing recorded that the overall physical work for the 82 packages currently being carried out has reached around 21.16 percent.

Construction work for Nusantara Hotel, begun on September 21, is targeted for completion before August 2024, with a contract worth Rp20 trillion (around US$1.3 billion) by a consortium of nine domestic private companies.

"Now, the construction progress of the Nusantara Hotel has reached 34.50 percent, slightly exceeding the target. This must be followed by other infrastructure works in IKN," Jokowi stated.

He added that the involvement of local investors in IKN development is expected to eventually draw large investments.

Jokowi highlighted that investors from East Kalimantan had also been involved in developing IKN, along with other domestic investors who had participated in building IKN infrastructures.

He noted that domestic investors, especially from East Kalimantan, invested billions of rupiah in various sectors, including hotels and shopping centers in IKN.

After inspecting the construction for Nusantara Hotel, Jokowi officiated the groundbreaking of the Nusantara Superblock shopping center.

Earlier, he had carried out two batches of infrastructure groundbreaking in IKN on September 21-22, with an investment value reaching Rp23.1 trillion (around $1.5 billion).

This was followed by the second groundbreaking batch on November 1-2, with an investment value of Rp13.1 trillion (around $843.6 million).

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Translator: Nyaman Bagus P, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Anton Santoso
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