World Bank supports Infrastructure development in 3 Priority Destinations

On Friday, 21 October, Vice President Jusuf Kalla convened a meeting of Ministers and leaders of institutions directly involved in the development of Indonesia’s new top 10 priority tourist destinations for development, for which the World Bank was prepared to support with loans for infrastructure development.

Present at the meeting were Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs, Luhut Panjaitan; Minister for Tourism, Arief Yahya; Transportation Minister, Budi Karya Sumadi; Investment Minister Thomas Lembong. Also present was senior official of the Ministry of Public Works, Director General Cipta Karya, and Rido Matari, Head of Regional Infrastructure Development in the Ministry of Public Works. Also attending from Bappenas (The National Development Board) was Kennedy Simanjuntak, Deputy for Financing and Development.

While on behalf of the World Bank was Mr. Rodrigo, World Bank Representative in Indonesia.

After presentations and due deliberations, the meeting under chairmanship of VP Jusuf Kalla agreed that the World Bank support infrastructure development in three of the ten top priority destinations, which are: Lake Toba, the Jogja-Solo-Semarang in the central part of Java (orJoglosemar as its acronym), and the Mandalika project on Lombok island.

Whereas, the other top priority destinations are: the Tanjung Kelayang area on Belitung island, Tanjung Lesung in the Banten Province facing the Krakatau volcano, the Thousand Islands (Kepulauan Seribu) fronting the capital city of Jakarta, the Bromo-Tengger–Semeru region in East Java. Komodo and Flores island in East Nusatenggara, Wakatobi underwater world in Southeast Sulawesi, and Morotai island in North Maluku.

Lake Toba is the iconic attraction in North Sumatra which will be transformed into Indonesia’s top ecotourism destination; while for the central section of the island of Java – called Joglosemar - will have as prominent icon the Borobudur temple, UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site. Whereas, on the island of Lombok, its south eastern coast called Mandalika has been earmarked for development into a high-end fully integrated tourist resort site.

Particular projects to be developed with World Bank loan in the revitalization of Lake Toba as world class ecotourism destination will be as follows:

Top priority will be the environmental restoration of Lake Toba itself, the establishment of a portfolio on historic and cultural attractions, a flower garden, an investment plan and the establishment of the Special Economic Zone for Tourism for Lake Toba.

An access toll road will be constructed covering 160.5 km. from Kuala Namu airport near Medan to the town of Parapat on the shore of Lake Toba. The nearer airport at Silangit which today has a runway of 2.400x30 meters, will be extended and widened to 2,650x45 meters to be able to receive wide body aircrafts. Along the shore, the existing piers at Mogang Palipi, Meat, Simanindo, Tiga Ras, Singadang island, will be improved and the bridge at Tano Ponggol constructed. While for its amenity, an Integrated Masterplan deciding on the Coordinative Zone and Authoritative Zone will also be established.

While in the central part of Java, with the aim to boost arrivals to Borobudur and the region, the following actions will be taken :

The Kota Lama (Old Town) of Semarang will be revitalized, as well as improvements made at the prehistoric site of Sangiran near Solo.

As regards infrastructure development, the airport at Kulonprogo in Yogyakarta will be accelerated; a toll road will be built between Bawen and Solo, and improved infrastructure done for the Adi Sumarmo airport in Semarang. World Bank will also support the construction of 1,000 homestay accommodation, a Borobudur Street Market will be built in Magelang, and the Joglosemar Tourism Authority will be established. The integrated Masterplan for Development will be prepared starting February 2017

Development of the plan on the 3 priority destinations above will commence in January 2017 with funding from regional and local budgets

While the World Bank has agreed to provide initial funding of US$ 6 million in January 2017. The signing on the agreement on the loan to the amount of US$ 200 million is scheduled in June, while actual implementation will take effect starting July 2017, said Tourism Minister Arief Yahya.

Indonesia aims to achieve the target of 20 million international tourist arrivals in 2019, while this year in 2016 the country targets to welcome an expected 12 million tourists, up from 10.3 million in 2015.