Holiday Ayo - The Indonesian Archipelago Capital Authority (OIKN) has just signed a grant agreement with the United States to create a smart forest city in IKN.

According to the Deputy for Green and Digital Transformation of the IKN Authority, Mohammed Ali Berawi, the construction of the IKN is a rare opportunity to move capital cities in the world. 

“We invite international collaboration to be part of the development of a modern and sustainable global city. We appreciate the support from the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) grant to facilitate collaboration between the two countries in IKN," said Mohammed Ali Berawi in Jakarta, Saturday.

Ali expressed his appreciation for the support of the United States government in building IKN as a smart city.

“The construction of IKN is an extraordinary job that I have never seen before in my 20 year career in the field of infrastructure development. Nusantara can do this with excellent work and dedication. For this reason, we thank OIKN for its hard work so that this partnership can be realized very well and we can sign this grant. This is a symbol of strong cooperation between the two governments," said Ebong. 

USTDA is an independent agency of the United States government to advance the economic development and commercial interests of the United States in developing countries. 

“This forum can support the success of IKN development, facilitate the exchange of experiences and best practices in smart city development, and open up opportunities for cooperation in planning and implementation," said Ebong. 

Apart from that, cooperation between Indonesia and the US continues with the signing of a grant agreement amounting to 2.49 million US dollars, from the American government through USTDA. 

This grant will be used to fund technical assistance related to the proposed implementation of smart city technology and solutions at IKN. 

The IKN Authority and USTDA are also in the process of continuing discussions to prepare grant collaboration for the second phase command center development pilot project.