Japan's SoftBank Group Corp. offered to invest between US$30 billion and US$40 billion for the development of Indonesia's new capital city, The Jakarta Post reported Jan. 17, citing Luhut Pandjaitan, Indonesia's coordinating maritime affairs and investment minister.

Indonesia's president, Joko Widodo, has yet to make a decision regarding investments related to the city and will decide on the matter in February, Luhut said at a press briefing in Jakarta.

Masayoshi Son, SoftBank CEO and founder, expressed interest in participating in the project during a meeting with the Indonesian president in the week of Jan. 6, the publication reported.

The project to construct the smart city, which will feature educational institutions, botanical gardens, modern hospitals and an environmentally friendly transportation system, is expected to cost about 466 trillion rupiah.

According to the project's initial funding plan, the Indonesian government is expected to finance 54.4% of the estimated construction cost, while 26.4% will be sourced from the private sector. The remaining 19.2% is expected to be covered by the state budget.

The UAE and the U.S. have also expressed interest in funding a new capital city in the North Penajem Paser and Kutai Kertanegara regencies in the Indonesian province of East Kalimantan.

As of Jan. 17, US$1 was equivalent to 13,669.00 Indonesian rupiah.