Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno invites foreign investors to invest in the tourism and creative economy sectors in line with the government's plan to reopen 18 leading tourist destinations in the country. Sandi made this request after Indonesia was appointed as the host of the Global Tourism Forum Leaders Summit Asia which will take place on 15-16 September 2021. “We are relaxing regulations not only for visas but also for investment in tourism and the creative economy, we are creating a Special Economic Zone [ KEK] and the Job Creation Law make it easier for investment," said Sandi when opening the online Global Tourism Forum Leader event, Tuesday (14/9/2021). Sandi ensures that the domestic investment climate is further facilitated through the Electronically Integrated Business Licensing system or Online Single Submission (OSS), which is the implementation of Law Number 11 of 2020 concerning Job Creation.
"Within an hour the projects that have met the criteria can get a license and approval to immediately resume their investment in the tourism and creative economy sectors," he said. When opening the event, Sandi revealed the government's plan to reopen 18 tourist destinations for foreign tourists as the pandemic curve in the country eases. The reopening of 18 tourist destinations includes tourism areas such as Bali, Batam and Bintan. This step was taken as part of the government's plan to conduct trials of opening Indonesia's doors to foreign tourists via the travel corridor. "We will continue to prepare for the reopening of Bali and also 18 other destinations including Batam and Bintan as a trial plan to open Indonesia's doors for foreign tourists," he said. Based on data from BKPM, the realization of FDI investment until the second quarter of 2021 reached US$7.99 billion or around Rp113.9 trillion.
Meanwhile, the hotel and restaurant sector recorded an investment of US$112 million or around Rp. 1.59 trillion. On the other hand, the realization of domestic investment or PMDN in the second quarter of 2021 reached Rp106.2 trillion. Meanwhile, the hotel and restaurant sector recorded an investment of Rp3.17 trillion. Meanwhile, data from the Bank Indonesia Bali Representative Office shows that domestic investment in the Island of the Gods during 2020 reached IDR 5,432.7 billion for 2,513 projects and foreign investment (PMA) in the same period amounted to USD 293.3 million for 3,967 projects. The portion of FDI to the hotel and restaurant sector reached 52 percent, with a value of US $ 152.516 million or Rp. 2.19 trillion. The portion of PMDN to the hotel and restaurant sector is 45 percent or Rp. 2,444.7 billion. This means that, in terms of value, investment in the hotel and restaurant sector in 2020 is indeed dominated by foreign investment. The head of the Bali Tourism Office, Putu Astawa, assessed that almost 80 percent of investment in the tourism sector in the Island of the Gods was carried out by foreign investors. The local government of Bali is currently trying to build a people's economy so that local communities can also benefit from the tourism sector.
