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Denpasar.
The government announced it would allocate Rp 210 trillion ($23.3 billion)
toward economic development in eastern Indonesia.
Tourism and
Creative Economy Minister Mari Elka Pangestu, who is also the coordinator of
the master plan to accelerate development in the country’s Economic Corridor V
(Bali and Nusa Tenggara), said on Sunday in Denpasar that the money would be
spent on 136 projects in the area.
The tourism
sector, which Mari singled out as a main driver for growth in eastern
Indonesia, would receive 28 percent of the investment, she said, mainly through
infrastructure projects.
“Investing
heavily in infrastructure will allow us to rapidly develop tourism,” Mari said,
adding that the government aimed to increase tourist arrivals to 8 million next
year from 7.7 million this year.
To ensure
it meets the target, the government is looking to attract visitors from
countries that have emerged relatively unscathed from the credit crisis
including China, India and Australia.
“Apart from
Bali, another tourism magnet in the area is East Nusa Tenggara’s Komodo
Island,” Mari said.
Komodo
National Park’s win in the New7Wonders of Nature global poll could bring an end
to widespread poverty in East Nusa Tenggara, said former Vice President Jusuf
Kalla, who campaigned for Komodo’s bid.
“Growth in
tourism in East Nusa Tenggara will lead to increased economic opportunities,”
Kalla said at a seminar at the Islamic University of Indonesia in Yogyakarta on
Sunday. “Komodo is the key to improving the welfare of the people in the
province.
“Uniting
all Indonesians is easy as long as there is a clear cause, and what better
cause than to create prosperity for an impoverished region.”
Abraham
Paul Liyanto, the chairman of the East Nusa Tenggara branch of the Indonesian
Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), agreed that growth in the region’s
tourism industry would expand on the back of infrastructure improvements there.
Abraham added
that direct international flights to Labuan Bajo, the main city of Flores
island and the closest town to Komodo, would mean tourists coming for a visit
would not need to stop over in Jakarta, Bali or Surabaya.
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