Govt to continue facilitate local companies involvement in Indonesia's Nusantara development

KUALA LUMPUR - The government will continue to facilitate the involvement of local companies in the development of Indonesia’s capital, Nusantara, which is able to offer a wider potential for investment, trade and economic collaboration in various fields for industry players from Malaysia.

The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (Miti) said the government would continue to highlight the expertise of Malaysian companies on the international stage and look for opportunities for more Malaysian companies to be involved throughout the period of Nusantara development.

"The Indonesian government, in principle, welcomes Malaysia’s intention and the interest of Malaysian companies to participate in the development of Nusantara,” the ministry said in a written reply published on the Parliament’s website today.

MITI was responding to Oscar Ling Chai Yew’s (DAP-Sibu) question regarding the details of the involvement of private companies and government-related companies in the development of Indonesia’s Nusantara.

The ministry said the involvement of local companies would also be able to contribute towards improving investment and trade performance between Malaysia and Indonesia, in order to realise the well-being of the people in Sabah and Sarawak and the country in general.

Meanwhile, in response to Ling’s question on the government’s proposal to build a highway over the railway connecting Nusantara with Sabah and Sarawak, Miti said as the nearest neighbouring country, Malaysia is also expected to feel the economic spillover effects from Nusantara development, either directly or indirectly, especially for Sabah and Sarawak.

The ministry said during Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s visit to Indonesia on Jan 8, a total of 10 Malaysian companies expressed their intentions to be involved in the development of Nusantara through the submission of 11 letters of intent (LOI) to participate in various sectors.

It said these included services, urban and real estate development, infrastructure and utilities, healthcare, digital economy, construction materials supply, engineering and support services sectors.

Miti said recently, four more Malaysian companies expressed their intentions through LOI to be involved in Nusantara development.

"The government constantly following the development of Nusantara in East Kalimantan and at the moment, the Ministry of Transport has no proposal to build a railway network connecting Sarawak and Sabah with Brunei or Nusantara.

"Currently, the focus is on the urban rail network under the Kuching Urban Transport System (KUTS) project led by Sarawak Metro in Sarawak while in Sabah, the focus is on improving the railway infrastructure as well as the quality of Sabah’s train services led by the Sabah State Railway Department,” it said.

However, it said the government, through MOT, is willing to help any party interested in conducting a feasibility study related to the construction of a highway or railway connecting Sabah and Sarawak with Nusantara. - BERNAMA