Indonesia is in the middle of a process to move its capital from Jakarta to East Kalimantan province, a new city that will be designed by the winners of an architectural competition, not unlike that which led to Canberra's design.

On Sunday afternoon at the top of a windy Mount Ainslie, President Widodo spoke to National Capital Authority boss Sally Barnes about Canberra's origins.

"There we were at the top of Mount Ainslie and in front of us was the Marion Mahony Griffin drawing of the plan," Ms Barnes said.

"We were talking about how if you looked down from this view 100 years ago all you would have seen is a sheep paddock with not many trees."

The Indonesian plan is highly ambitious, with the $34 billion project for a low-carbon environmentally friendly city that is likely to house significantly more than Canberra's population of 400,000. Jakarta has a population of more than 30 million people.

President Widodo told Indonesian media that he was impressed by the city landscape management and the height restrictions on buildings in the centre of the city.

"He was very interested in sustainability and modernisation," Ms Barnes said. "Having places that are a great place to live and work as well."

The National Capital Authority has been receiving delegations from Indonesia over the past six to 12 months, Ms Barnes said, seeking guidance on running a competition for a city design and planning.

"They're not just looking at Canberra, they're looking at cities all over the world," Ms Barnes said.

"Very rarely do you get the chance to build a city from scratch, or a capital city."