Balikpapan, East Kalimantan. The Indonesian government on Wednesday announced a competition to design the country's new capital in East Kalimantan.

It will be open to individuals and groups, local citizens or foreigners, with expertise in architecture and urban planning.

The new capital's design must contain elements of a smart city and a forest city, Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said during a focus group discussion in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.

The government has allotted Rp 5 billion ($353,000) in prize money for five winners, with a top prize of Rp2 billion, according to a government circular seen by Jakarta Globe.

Registration opens Thursday until Oct. 18 and the deadline to submit the design is on Nov. 29.

"By the second half of 2020, we will start building public infrastructures based on the [winning] masterplan from the competition. We will start with building roads, drainages and dams," Basuki said. 

Landmark buildings such as the presidential palace and the parliament compound will follow later, but they will be completed by 2024, he said.

"God willing, we will start moving to the new capital in 2024. The president has told me the first ministry to be moved to the new capital is mine," Basuki said.

The new capital will occupy a 180,000-hectare area in the Kutai Kertanegara dan Penajam Paser Utara districts. 

National Development Planning Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said the new capital will be a smart, livable city with underground utilities and a protected urban forest.

The city will be attractive to both investors and tourists, he said.

"The new capital will be Indonesia's most comfortable city to live in," Bambang said.