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INDONESIA’S Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy held a meeting with the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Indonesia, Daniyar Sareknov, in the Meeting Room of Tourism Ministry, 16th Floor, Tuesday (6/15). During the meeting, they explored the potential for tourism and creative economy cooperation that could be carried out between Indonesia and Kazakhstan.
According to the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Uno, said the cooperation opportunities include plans for direct charter flights from Surabaya and Bali, Indonesia to Almaty, Kazakhstan, and vice versa from Kazakhstan to Indonesia. Currently, the Kazakh airline, Air Astana, has opened direct flights to several Asian countries, such as Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh City, Seoul, Beijing, and Tokyo.
“Then, halal tourism also has good potential to be developed, because Kazakhstan has several historical Islamic places in the Turkistan region, which are developing as a tourist area. Halal businesses are also a potential opportunity, because market demand for halal businesses such as hotels and halal restaurants is quite high, so that Kazakhstan is projected to attract Indonesian entrepreneurs to invest in developing halal businesses. Likewise with halal products, Indonesia can export halal food to Kazakhstan,” he said.
Minister Sandiaga expressed his gratitude for the presence of the Ambassador of Kazakhstan, Daniyar Sareknov. He hopes that this potential cooperation opportunity will strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries, especially in the tourism and creative economy sectors.
“I am very optimistic that after this pandemic we can produce cooperation and collaborate with each other in developing tourism and the creative economy in both countries. And can help promote and present quality and sustainable tourism in accordance with President Joko Widodo’s direction in five super priority destinations, namely Borobudur, Lake Toba, Mandalika, Labuan Bajo and Likupang,” he stated.
Meanwhile the Deputy for Marketing of the Ministry of Tourism, Nia Niscaya, proposed to make a virtual trip between Kazakhstan and Indonesia. This is to build awareness of tourist destinations in both countries, as well as increase tourist confidence that Indonesia has implemented strict health protocols in each tourist destination.
Likewise, the Deputy for Tourism Products and Event Organizers at Tourism Ministry, Rizky Handayani said is of the opinion that flight direct charters should ideally be opened not only from Surabaya and Bali, but also from the city of Jakarta. Because, tourists from Jakarta also have the potential to fly to Kazakhstan.
“Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency, tourist visits from Kazakhstan to Indonesia in 2019 were 9,781 tourists. However, in 2020 the number of tourists experienced a decline due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which amounted to 3,671. With this cooperation opportunity, it is expected to increase the number of Khazakstan tourists to Indonesia,” she said.
In addition, this cooperation opportunity is expected to be a follow-up to the umbrella agreement in the economic sector that has not been discussed yet. Because the two countries do not yet have a Double Tax Protection Agreement, Investment Protection Agreement, and Bilateral Trade Agreement where the three agreements are indispensable for business actors to support economic activities both in the context of investment and direct trade.
On that occasion, the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Indonesia, Daniyar Sareknov, said that Kazakh tourists really like the beach as a destination, because Kazakhstan does not have a beach. For this reason, Indonesia is very in line with the interests of tourists from Kazakhstan.
“As a follow-up to our discussion this time, we can hold a virtual meeting to discuss in more detail. And I hope this cooperation opportunity can be poured into a G to G agreement or a memorandum of understanding,” he concluded. [traveltext.id]
