We primarily focus on developing 10 Tourism Priority Destinations in this period by optimizing accessibility, attraction, and amenities (3A) in the prioritized areas: Ni Made Ayu Marthini Deputy of Marketing
BALAI, INDONESIA
Ni Made Ayu Marthini Deputy Minister of Marketing Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, Republic of Indonesia has said Indonesia welcomes Pakistani investors to come here and explore various business avenues as her country offered huge potential, especially in the tourism sector.
She added,’ we are seeing an opportunity in the common characteristic of Indonesia with Pakistan, which is similar in having a majority of the Muslim population’.
Mrs. Ni Made Ayu Marthini expressed these views while giving an exclusive interview to the Pakistan media delegation, which is currently in Bali as part of the Indonesian government’s FAMTRIP program. The visit is jointly organized by the Indonesian embassy in Islamabad and the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy.
While replying to a question about investment opportunities in Indonesia she said, Indonesia is the world’s most sought after tourist destination and let me put it like this that tourism is in fact the jewel in the crown of Indonesia.
We would like to promote this and I’m so glad that journalists from Pakistan are here today to see for themselves that what progress Indonesia has made in this sector.
She said investment is a big part of the success of tourism that is why we are whole-heartedly working to fetch more and more foreign investments including from Pakistan. Let me tell you that there are a lot of opportunities for the Pakistani investors because the trajectory of growth that we see is very high.
She said Indonesia had an open policy to make it easy for investors to come and explore business opportunities.
“I hope one day we see more and more Pakistanis investors to come to Indonesia and be part of innovative growth story. Let me emphasize again, we have to be adaptive. We have to be innovative. And lastly, we have to be collaborative and work together with everybody to achieve happiness. We are eying 8.5 million tourists this year and I am glad to share with you that 3.2 million tourists have visited already. So we’re quite happy and I believe everyone is very optimistic about future prospects.
The minister further said, the media plays a vital role in promoting the two countries’ potential, and people-to-people contacts especially with the similar characteristics of Indonesia and Pakistan, countries with a majority Muslim population.
‘Generally, Indonesia provides convenient access to mosques and halal foods, the essential needs for Muslims. Having said that, we are confident to promote our Muslem-friendly destinations, with the highlight of our award-winning designated halal destination, Lombok’, she added.
She said they had plenty of destinations to offer to Pakistani tourists, with Moslem-friendly tourism as the cherry on top.
While replying to yet another question the minister hoped opening of direct flights between Indonesia and Pakistan shall give new impetus to bilateral relations. She said efforts were on from both sides in this regard and hoped a breakthrough shall be achieved sooner rather than later. She called upon the media and the stakeholders of the hospitality industry to play a role once the direct air link is established.
