KOTA KINABALU: Malaysian businessmen keen to set up shop in the soon-to-be Indonesia’s capital city, Nusantara, must think beyond conventional sectors, says Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili.

       The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs) said there was a huge business potential waiting to be tapped with the new capital as well as other parts of East Kalimantan.

       “It is exciting to know of these potentials. It is vast – ranging from infrastructure, tourism, agriculture and others.

       “But we should be more creative and look at other sectors beyond these, such as education, health and sectors that are being focussed by the Indonesian government,” he said after meeting the East Kalimantan vice-governor Hadi Mulyadi, at the latter’s office in Samarinda on Monday (March 28).

       Ongkili, who led the Malaysian delegation, including Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Dr Joachim Gunsalam and Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, were also briefed on the business and investment opportunities by the Indonesian Investment Board One-Stop Service.

       “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 in a statement on Monday (March 28).

       Ongkili said he anticipates everything would be fast-moving in the next two years as Indonesia prepares to move its capital from Jakarta to Nusantara in the first quarter of 2024.

       Describing the week-long visit as “timely and strategic”, Ongkili said they were aiming to obtain first-hand information on the new location of the Indonesian capital and its likely impact on the border economy between Kalimantan and the two Borneo states.

       “Further, we also hope the visit would enhance existing ties between the two countries, so we can work closely, both economically, socially, and politically in the future,” Ongkili added.