Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Panjaitan open the question SoftBank Group, a conglomeration of companies from Japan, which canceled its investment in the National Capital (IKN) Nusantara in East Kalimantan.
Luhut explained that there were at least four reasons that made SoftBank Group reluctant to invest in the construction of the new capital city of Indonesia.
1. SoftBank boss is no longer the IKN Board of Directors
Luhut confirmed that Softbank’s Founder and CEO Masayoshi Son will no longer be on the IKN Development Steering Committee.
“(Masayoshi’s position on the steering board) is no longer there,” said Luhut at the Grand Hyatt, Jakarta, as quoted from Detik.comTuesday (15/3).
But on the other hand, the other Steering Committees remain the same, namely the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed (MBZ) and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
As a result, the Indonesian government will again seek a replacement for Masayoshi Son as the Board of Directors of IKN Development.
2. Drop Shares, SoftBank Withdraws from IKN
Luhut explained that he withdrew from the IKN development because the company’s shares had fallen.
“If SoftBank was indeed from the beginning, he had resigned since the stock dropped,” he said.
For information, SoftBank’s shares on the Japanese stock exchange have indeed fallen in the last 6 months. It is known, its shares fell minus 34.81 percent from 6,542 last September, now remaining 4,265 per share.
3. Middle East Investor Left SoftBank
SoftBank has a funding placement, one of which comes from a Middle Eastern country, namely the SoftBank Vision Fund.
The fund was first created in 2017 and is backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). But now, the two countries have left the SoftBank Vision Fund funding.
“Now the funds from what was previously to SoftBank, the second vision fund is not working, the US$100 billion, yes, that’s what we are trying to take now from MBS, from Saudi Arabia and from Abu Dhabi,” he said.
Furthermore, Luhut said that Indonesia is currently lobbying Saudi Arabia to invest directly in Indonesia, without going through SoftBank.
4. RI Dekati Arab Saudi-UEA
Luhut has indeed lobbied the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Muhammad bin Salman (MBS) bin Abdulaziz al-Saud and is still in the discussion stage. But now, Indonesia will do the same to the UAE.
According to him, the UAE will enter the IKN project through the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) with a figure of US $ 20 billion or equivalent to Rp. 286 trillion (exchange rate of Rp. 14,305 per US dollar).
“From Saudi, when I was there, the Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman also asked him to come in there. Now, what number is he, we are currently working on it, because we are continuing to have virtual meetings with Muhammad bin Salman’s team,” he concluded.
(detik.com/fry)
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