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THE MINISTRY of Tourism and Creative Economy supports the development of tourism and the creative economy in the city of Solo, one of which is making the city in Central Java a leading MICE (meeting, incentive, conference, and exhibition) destination.
This was conveyed by the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Uno after attending the ‘Surakarta Chamber of Commerce and Industry Dialogue: Solo as a MICE Destination with a Cultural Character’, Saturday (12/10) evening in Solo said that we are conducting dialogue to improve MICE and also develop batik in Kampung Laweyan in order to increase tourist visits, especially the achievement target of creating 1.1 million jobs this year and 4.4 million in 2024.
“Solo City as one of the leading MICE destinations in Indonesia has high potential. And the city of Solo has also proven itself successful in hosting various events ranging from national to international levels, such as the 48th Muktamar Muhammadiyah, Haul Solo 2022, International Wellness Tourism Conference and Festival 2022, and ASEAN Paragames Solo 2022 some time ago,” he said.
In the future, Sandiaga continued, we can jointly design various international activities. We will carry out revitalization, especially in organizing MICE, organizing more enhanced activities to make Solo an international event destination. So, I invited the Solo City Chamber of Commerce and Industry in particular to collaborate with the government in developing the tourism sector and the creative economy.
“We can hold an international conference on batik and the interest is bound to be extraordinary. KADIN (Chambers of Commerce and Industry) also has a desire to propose the opening of direct international flights from at least several major cities in Southeast Asia, either to Semarang or Surakarta,” Sandiaga remarked.
Regarding batik, Sandiaga said the batik industry has great potential and contribution to the country’s economy. The batik industry is able to absorb 200,000 workers in 47,000 batik business units in 101 centers throughout Indonesia. Indonesian batik products are also in great demand by foreign markets, where the export value of batik in 2021 will reach US$46.24 million.
“To develop the national batik industry, the Ministry of Tourism together with relevant stakeholders are preparing competency standards for batik creation. The purpose of compiling these competency standards is to improve the quality and competence of human resources for batik entrepreneurs, as well as increase the synergy between stakeholders in batik development,” Sandiaga stated.
Therefore, Sandiaga added, I again invite various parties to collaborate, especially KADIN, so that they can support the development of batik. This includes providing support in providing training, mentoring, as well as access to financing. [traveltext.id/photo special]
