Officials from the Japan International Cooperation Agency, or JICA, have visited construction sites in Indonesia's new capital. The organization wants to provide the country with more technical assistance.

JICA and Japanese embassy officials toured the sites on Tuesday. They also received briefings from local officials.

Last year, Indonesia decided to relocate its capital from Jakarta to a site on East Kalimantan Island, which is 2,000 kilometers away from Jakarta.

It is now developing about 250,000 hectares of land to build the new capital, which will be called Nusantara.

About 20 percent of the construction work has been completed at the new presidential office and the palace. They are located in the center of the new capital.
The Indonesian government plans to celebrate the country's day of independence in the new capital in August of next year.

Japan's advanced technology is highly valued by the Indonesian government. The first subway in Indonesia began operating using Japanese technology.

But competition over infrastructure projects in Indonesia is expected to become fierce. South Korea has stated that it intends to provide assistance for the construction of water purification facilities and roads.

Yasui Takehiro heads JICA's Indonesian office. He said Japan has an advantage, as the Indonesian government intends to build an eco-friendly city. Yasui said Japan has a lot of expertise when it comes to that kind of work.