Abu Dhabi - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) echoed his interest to take a sample from Abu Dhabi's Masdar City in the United Arab Emirates to construct Indonesia's new capital city in East Kalimantan Province.

"In building our new capital city, we tend to learn from the pioneers of city planning, including Masdar City," he told participants of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) 2020 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center on Monday.

According to Masdar's official website https://masdar.ae, Masdar City is claimed to be "one of the world's most sustainable urban communities, a low-carbon development constituting a rapidly growing clean-tech cluster, business-free zone, and residential neighborhood, with restaurants, shops, and public green spaces".

This city's philosophy of urban development "is based on the three pillars of economic, social, and environmental sustainability".

President Jokowi invited attendees at the ADSW 2020 to visit Indonesia. He also extended an invitation to members of the international community to bring the best technology, innovation, and policies for developing socio-economic sustainability.

Addressing this prestigious event's participants, including several heads of state and heads of government, the Indonesian president introduced his administration's plan to erect a new capital city by adopting a sustainable city concept.

"We do not build a small administrative city. In its place, we build a smart metropolitan city," he affirmed.

According to ANTARA, the development of infrastructure in Indonesia's next capital city will start in mid-2020. However, as revealed by President Jokowi in December 2019, the detailed design of the city’s construction is projected to be ready within six months.

The planned capital city will be divided into three areas, notably the core administration area, capital city area, and expanded capital city area, President Jokowi stated.

The location of the would-be state palace has yet to be decided by the architects drafting the development design of the capital city, he stated during his visit to the Sudharmono Tower in the PT ITCI Manunggal industrial forestry area in North Penajam Paser, the location of the next capital city, last year.

According to Agrarian and Land Spatial Minister Sofyan Djalil, the new capital city will be surrounded by forest and have a forest landscape to reflect the identity of East Kalimantan, known for its tropical rainforest.

"The 256,000-hectare capital city area will really become a forest area reflecting the actual Kalimantan," he added. (ANTARA)