THE COORDINATING Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan is targeting 1.4 billion domestic tourists traveling or twice the achievement of last year in the Proud Indonesian Tourism Program (BBWI).
“With the increasing number of visits to an area, it is hoped that the demand for local products or services will also increase. Banten has many leading tourist destinations. Make a travel pattern to make this destination more attractive. Banten is an area that has the potential to elevate local wisdom to attract Jakarta residents,” said Luhut in his statement in Jakarta, Friday (02/10), 2023.
Luhut hopes that this effort can generate tourism revenue of IDR3,281 trillion or the equivalent of 18% of nominal GDP.
Luhut conveyed this while attending the Kick Off National Movement for Proud of Made in Indonesia/Domestic Products (Gernas BBI/PDN) and Proud to Tour in Indonesia (BBWI) in Banten, which was also the first location for the series of events for the Gernas BBI/PDN and BBWI 2023.
Luhut appreciated the Acting Governor of Banten and his staff, as the campaign manager, together with the Ministry of Transportation as the co-campaign manager for holding the Gernas BBI/PDN and BBWI Kick Off. On the same occasion, the Acting Governor of Banten Al Muktabar and PLN Banten Region also inaugurated the Public Electric Vehicle Charging Station (SPKLU).
“We need to appreciate this. We will continue to build the SPKLU to make it easier for vehicle owners to recharge the battery. This is done to help create an ecosystem for environmentally friendly vehicles in Indonesia,” he said.
The Coordinating Minister said, apart from vehicles, existing local products must also be continuously encouraged so that production increases. This means that it is necessary to maintain demand in the community, because in 2023 BBI will be expanded with BBWI which was launched last December.
This year, BBWI’s target is to reach 1.2-1.4 billion domestic tourist trips or twice the achievement of last year.
On that occasion, Coordinating Minister Luhut also appreciated the steps taken by the Banten Provincial Government in implementing Thematic Bureaucratic Reform. Local governments are expected to be able to answer problems in the field, not just administrative issues and programs must be impact oriented.
Luhut also continues to optimize domestic product (PDN) spending, where as of December 31 2022, the total commitment for PDN spending by ministries, institutions, regional governments and State-Owned Enterprises (BUMNs) reached IDR1,001 trillion with a realization of IDR762.75 trillion (76.2%).
“This achievement far exceeds the target set by the President Jokowi of IDR400 trillion. Likewise, products displayed on e-catalogs have reached 2,493,151 products or 249% of the target of 1 million products in 2022,” said Luhut.
Luhut also thanked all those who helped in these achievements. “As of the end of December 2022, the total number of MSMEs/IKM/Artisan entering the digital ecosystem reached 21.4 million units, or an increase of 168% since its launch in 2020. We still need to reach the target of 30 million by 2024,” he added.
The Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs added that one of the annual online shopping activities that BBI has been promoting is National Online Shopping Day (Harbolnas). Through this activity, sales trend data for local products from 2018 to 2022 has continued to increase, reaching IDR10 trillion.
Even though sales of local products are still below imported products, continued the Coordinating Minister Luhut, we must be optimistic that in the future local products will dominate sales in e-commerce.
Nielsen data also shows that around 67% of online consumers know about the Gernas BBI campaign and 80% of consumers consider product origin to be important, and tend to buy local products rather than imports.
“For that, to all Regional Heads; let’s take advantage of the momentum of the Gernas BBI/PDN and BBWI to improve our regional economy. Improve tourist destinations and their environment, increase local creative production, and encourage various activities in our area,” he concluded. [antaranews]