VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

In 2018, Indonesia is going to host two international events, namely the 18th Asian Games from 18 August to 2 September 2018 in  Jakarta and Palembang, South Sumatra and the annual meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund -IMF on October 12-18 in Bali. The government must provide a lot of funds for these two international events.

For the 2018 Asian Games, Indonesia's investment as a host reaches approximately Rp 30 trillion and the implementation of the annual meeting of the World Bank and the IMF is not so huge since it is only held in one city.

The organizing of these two international events will serve as a model to calculate the economic impact. The National Development Planning Agency -BAPPENAS is preparing a study on the economic impacts of these two international activities.

It is reasonable to calculate the impact of all costs incur, not only from the financial aspect but also the impact on multi-sectors. Head of BAPPENAS, Bambang Brodjonegoro said that the economic impact assessment of an activity needs to be done to measure how much the activity affects the domestic economy and not just from the financial aspect. He also explained that BAPPENAS will calculate the economic impact of each event twice both pra-event as a projection, and post-event as a description of the realization as well as evaluation materials.

Several countries hosting international events have undergone the study and calculation of the economic impact of each activity. Indonesia should have started to make a study of the economic impact of every international event.

The results of the study are expected to increase revenue from all sectors, not only the tourism sector of the city that hosts the implementation, but also the surrounding areas. The more expected impact, of course, is the involvement of micro, small and medium businesses in every activity.

Hopefully, the model of the study that BAPPENAS will undertake for Asian  Games and the annual meeting of World Bank and IMF can be an input for subsequent economic activities. So, every time Indonesia hosts any international activities, the economic impact will spread to many sectors.

Indonesian President, Joko Widodo conducted a series of state visits in South Asia, namely Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh from 24 to 28 January 2018. In this visit, he was accompanied by several ministers of the Working Cabinet, such as Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Darmin Nasution, Minister of Trade, Enggartiasto Lukita, and Cabinet Secretary, Pramono Anung.

Sri Lanka became the first country visited by President Joko Widodo on January 24 to 25, then India on January 25-26 and Pakistan on January 26-27, and Bangladesh on 27--28 January 2018. Later from Bangladesh, President Joko Widodo resumed his trip to Afghanistan on January 29, 2018.

"Opening New Opportunities" became the theme of the President's state visit. The main focus of the visit is to enhance and develop economic cooperation with South Asia, including trade, energy, connectivity and infrastructure development.

President Joko Widodo's visit to several countries in South Asia is considered to be quite successful, resulting in some agreements on cooperation with countries visited in accordance with the theme, "Opening New Opportunities".

On the visit to Sri Lanka, President Joko Widodo agreed on a number of trade and economic cooperation with Sri Lankan President, Maithripala Sirisena.

Meanwhile in India, in addition to attending the ASEAN-India Summit, President Joko Widodo also held a bilateral meeting with Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi who created the same agreements.

During his visit to Pakistan, President Joko Widodo had the opportunity to speak at the National Assembly of Pakistan. In addition, in a bilateral meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, the signing of a memorandum of understanding on energy and trade was agreed. Indonesia agreed to supply Liquefied Natural Gas -LNG to Pakistan.

President Joko Widodo's visit to countries in South Asia ended in Bangladesh. After a meeting with Bangladeshi Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, both of them witnessed the signing of several cooperation agreements between the two countries.

In addition, President Joko Widodo also visited Rakhine State refugees, in at Cox's Bazar in Myanmar and reviewed the service activities undertaken by the Indonesian government as well as Indonesian humanitarian organizations that have been already operating there.

President Joko Widodo's visit to South Asia is very strategic and it expands Indonesia's relationship with the South Asian countries. Hopefully, this will bring about positive impact for both Indonesia and the visited countries.

President  Joko Widodo and First Lady Iriana Joko Widodo arrived in  Cox Bazaar, on January 28,, at around 12:40 local time . After the arrival, President and Madame Iriana get an explanation  at the airport, from Cox Bazaar’s Deputy Commissioner, Ali Hossein, concerning the handling of Rakhine State refugees at the Refugee Camp.  They have a chance to see Camp Jamtoli, one of the refugees shelter, about 70 kilometers from the airport. Accompanying President and Mrs. Iriana during this visit were Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, Special Staff Coordinator Teten Masduki and Indonesian Ambassador to Bangladesh Rina Soemarno. ( source: President media office )