Indonesian Minister of Tourism Arief Yahya will offer tourism investment opportunity in Indonesia to member states and dialogue partners during the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Summit 2017 held in Jakarta from 5-7 March.

Minister Arief Yahya is scheduled to be a panelist in the IORA Business Forum on March 6 to elaborate Indonesias prospective tourism through sustainable and equitable connectivity and infrastructure development, a press release stated on Sunday.

The minister will emphasize the need to increase seat capacity considering the fact that the airline has become the main transportation used by tourists to visit Indonesia.

Minister Arief Yahya will also invite foreign investors to invest to the 10 New Bali, a government prioritized program to boost the tourist visit to Indonesia.

The 10 “New Bali” offered by the Government namely Lake Toba in North Sumatra, Tanjung Kelayang in Bangka Belitung, Tanjung Lesung in Banten, Thousand Islands in Jakarta Special Region, Borobudur in Central Java, Bromo-Tengger-Semeru in East Java, Mandalika in West Nusa Tenggara, Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara, Wakatobi in Southeast Sulawesi and Morotai in Maluku.

To achieve its goal of 20 million tourist arrivals by the year 2019, the Indonesian Government has issued several policies such as the short visa-free policy for 169 countries, ease of yacht and cruise entry permit, and revocation of the Clearance Approval for Indonesian Territory (CAIT).

IORA will be celebrating its 20th Anniversary in March 2017. Indonesia, as the current chair of IORA, will host the first ever IORA Leaders Summit on March 7, 2017.

The first IORA Leaders Summit will be held under the theme “Strengthening Maritime Cooperation for a Peaceful, Stable and Prosperous Indian Ocean” on March 7.

The leaders summit will be preceded by a Committee of Senior Officials meeting on March 5 and a Council of Ministers meeting on March 6.

The 16 VVIPs who have confirmed their attendance consist of five presidents, four vice presidents, four prime ministers, and three vice prime ministers, Director General for Asia-Pacific and African Affairs of Ministry of Foreign Affairs Desra Percaya stated previously.

The summit will bring together leaders of 21 IORA member states and its seven dialogue partners.

Along with the above official meetings, IORA will also engage the private sector through a “Business Summit” to be held on March 6, 2017, with the aim of deepening business cooperation in the region.

The summit is expected to result in several outcome documents, including the IORA Concord, the IORA Action Plan, and the IORA Declaration on Countering Violent Extremism leading to Terrorism.

source: tempo.co