About megaprojects – From the editor

The fact that President Prabowo Subianto did not mention Nusantara in his inaugural speech on October 20 raised some concerns about his involvement in the planned new capital.

After all, the inaugural speech of his presidency would be an ideal opportunity to reassure skeptics about the continuation of the megaproject, and it seems that there is no reason not to devote a single minute to this topic in an hour-long speech.

To put an end to speculation about his involvement, the president reportedly finally spoke on Nusantara on Sunday, a week after his inauguration.

Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni said Prabowo made it clear during a briefing to members of his Red and White Cabinet during a three-day retreat in Magelang, Central Java, that he had decided to proceed with the project and needed the keys to the facilities to be completed within four years.

For now, it is only a verbal commitment, but it is more than a week ago.

Any impression, accurate or not, that former President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s pet project has fallen by the wayside near Prabowo would have significant implications for greenfield construction.

In fact, the impact would go well beyond that, because if the project’s priority could be shifted overnight, how could investors have confidence in any other long-term projects in the country, including Prabowo’s pet projects on food security and biofuel.

The problem with megaprojects is that they usually last longer than a single president’s term.

A vigorous continuation of the Nusantara project after the handover would reassure investors that national strategic projects are called “national” for a reason.

The term suggests that these are the projects of the nation, not the president of the day, and that they were considered to be of strategic importance and therefore not subject to political whim.

Is service discontinuation a risk we have to live with in a democracy? Are five-year plans announced at the beginning of a new presidential term the best we can do to chart the nation’s course?

This would be a problem in terms of creating a favorable investment climate around long-term development.

Indonesia has a reputation for being an ad hoc policy maker that can change industry rules overnight, but it would be particularly damaging to see key pillars of national development begin to shake with each change of government.

Jokowi has gone to great lengths to future-proof the Nusantara project, securing broad all-party support when it was voted on in the House of Representatives more than a year ago, well before the presidential elections.

With the exception of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), all parties voted for the Nusantara Capital Law (IKN), including the opposition Democratic Party.

Before leaving office, the former president also outlined some key achievements for Nusantara, even if some of those efforts seemed forced, by celebrating Indonesia’s Independence Day in the city in August, holding its first government meeting there, and presiding over groundbreaking ceremonies for a hotel, a center commercial, transportation hubs, public utility infrastructure and more.

At this early stage of his presidency, we can only expect words from Prabowo to Nusantara, but action will soon need to follow to ensure investor confidence.

The real test of his commitment to the project will be the funds allocated for this purpose by his administration in future budgets.

Private investors are expected to finance the lion’s share of the city’s development, but we already know that many of them are waiting for the government to take some action before getting involved themselves.

A more detailed legal basis for Nusantara could help assure investors about each stage of Nusantara’s development and the feasibility of private projects within it.

It’s not too late to fix this, and a determined push for Nusantara could bring Prabowo closer to its goal of 8 percent GDP growth.

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