NUSANTARA Capital City (IKN), being developed in East Kalimantan Province, has been witnessing between three thousand and five thousand tourist visits daily, according to the IKN Authority (OIKN).
Speaking at the ESG Symposium 2024 in Jakarta on Tuesday, OIKN Director of Investment and Business Facilities Lazuardi Nasution remarked that Indonesia’s future capital city, despite its ongoing construction, is a worthy tourism destination.
“We believe that IKN has emerged as a tourism destination. Thus, we will, ladies and gentlemen, here if you are keen to visit the city,” he told the symposium audience.
He revealed that to make Nusantara more accessible to tourists, the government has continued to fast-track the construction of a new toll road, which is expected to cut the travel time from Balikpapan to the city from 2.5 hours to only 45-50 minutes.
“Hopefully, the new toll road will see its development concluded by this December,” he pointed out.
Earlier, President Prabowo Subianto stated that his administration would focus on developing Nusantara as Indonesia’s center for government and political affairs for the next four or five years.
Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY) made the statement after he met with the president at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, on November 7, 2024.
“This signifies that the city is expected to be able to run executive, legislative, and judiciary activities (within the targeted period),” he told the media.
According to AHY, the construction of infrastructure specified for executive institutions, such as ministerial buildings, in Nusantara has almost been completed.
Hence, he said the government will be paying closer attention to the development of offices of legislative and judiciary bodies for the next half a decade. [antaranews]