President Jokowi Promotes Tourism Investment

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - There is vast potential for investment in Indonesias tourism sector, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has told global investors.

"Indonesia has thousands of beautiful places to visit, such as Bali, Raja Ampat in Papua, Mandalika in West Nusa Tenggara, and Komodo island in East Nusa Tenggara," he remarked at the Forbes Global CEO Conference at the Shangri-la Hotel here on Tuesday.

Outside Bali, the potential to develop tourism is still huge, he said.

To boost economic growth through tourism, Garuda Indonesia, the countrys state airline, has expanded direct flight services from countries with the biggest tourist potential to other places in Indonesia such as Manado in North Sulawesi.

"In less than a year, the number of tourists from China to Manado has increased to 12,000 per month," Jokowi revealed.

Indonesia is now building land, sea, and air transportation infrastructure to ease the flow of goods and people.

The effort has been focused on remote places and border regions such as Papua and Miangas to increase the contribution of these regions in the countrys economic growth.

The conference, which is being attended by chief executive officers of a number of multinational companies, will last until December 1. (WDY)