KOTA KINABALU – There are tremendous opportunities for enterprising businesses in Indonesia’s new capital city Nusantara as well as in other parts of Kalimantan, said Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili.
However, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs) advised Malaysian investors planning to conduct business in the soon-to-be capital city to think beyond conventional sectors if they intend to reap the economic rewards.
“It is exciting to know these vast potentials – ranging from infrastructure, tourism, agriculture, and others.
“But we should be more creative and look beyond these sectors, such as education, health and (other) sectors that are the focus of the Indonesian government,” he said in a statement after meeting East Kalimantan vice-governor Hadi Mulyadi in his office, today.
Ongkili, who led the Malaysian delegation, was also briefed on the business and investment opportunities by the Indonesian Investment Board One-Stop Service.
He was accompanied by Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Joachim Gunsalam, Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, and top officials from Malaysian government agencies, among others.
“We would encourage private sectors in Malaysia to tap on these potentials, and we, from the government, will facilitate, while the Malaysian embassy will provide us with the details on investment incentives available here,” he said.
The Kota Marudu MP anticipates that everything will move fast in the next two years as Indonesia prepares for a change in its administrative centre, which is expected to occur in the first quarter of 2024.
Describing the week-long visit as “timely and strategic”, Ongkili said they aim to obtain firsthand information on the new location of the Indonesian capital and the estimated impact it will have on the border economy between Kalimantan and East Malaysia.
“Further, we also hope the visit would enhance existing ties between the two countries, so we can work closely economically, socially, and politically in the future,” the minister said.
The delegates will be in Balikpapan today, the third location after Jakarta and Samarinda, and are scheduled to be in Tarakan on Wednesday. – The Vibes, March 28, 2022
