Jakarta, VOInews: Indonesian Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno hopes that the Chinese New Year holiday will support the achievement of 14.3 million foreign tourist visits and 1.25 to 1.5 billion domestic tourist movements. This was conveyed by Minister Sandiaga Uno at “The Weekly Brief with Sandi Uno “ in Jakarta on Monday (29/1).
According to Sandiaga, the Chinese New Year holiday is expected to increase 10 to 11 percent of tourist movements. Sandiaga said, “The added value of the creative economy is targeted at 1,300 trillion rupiah. The broad economic turnover for tourism has a foreign exchange value of around 13 to 15 billion dollars."
Moreover, according to Minister Sandiaga, to welcome the Chinese New Year Holiday, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy has prepared a travel map for the Chinese New Year Holiday, namely tourism destinations in Jakarta, Surakarta, Semarang, Palembang and Singkawang.
Besides, Sandiaga has also said the ministry also continues to encourage the welcoming of Chinese New Year and the Cap Go Meh festival which prioritize the local wisdom of local Chinese communities.
Jakarta, VOInews: Indonesia regrets the decision of a number of countries to suspend funding assistance to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine Refugees. This was conveyed by Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers (AMM) Retreat Session in Luang Prabang, Laos on Monday (29 /1).
A number of countries including Germany, Britain,Italy , Australia and Finland on Saturday followed the the United States, which announced the postponement of giving additional funding due to alleged involvement of UNRWA staff in the Hamas attack on Israel, 7 October 2023.
In a statement received in Jakarta on Monday, Minister Retno "An open, transparent and credible investigation into the alleged involvement of several UNRWA employees needs to be carried out, but the pospontmen on of financial support to UNRWA is collective punishment against Palestinian refugees."
Earlier, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres asked donor countries to guarantee the continuity of the Palestine Refugee Agency (UNRWA). Meanwhile, UNRWA Director Philippe Lazzarini expressed the possibility of stopping UNRWA activities due to the termination of funding. He also expressed surprise because the decision to temporarily posponed funding was made based on accusations from a few people.
Jakarta, VOInews: Indian Ambassador to Indonesia Sandeep Chakravorty, Friday (26/1) in Jakarta conveyed that India attempts to become a developed country by 2047 coincides with Indonesia which is determined to achieve the vision of a Golden Indonesia in 2045.
According to Chakravorty, the trade values of both two countries reached 39 billion US dollars in 2023,therefore India has become the largest trading partner in the Southeast Asia region. On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of India's Independence, Ambassador Chakravorty also said that India had established domestic policies aimed at increasing the role of manufacturing in supporting the economy.
Chakravorty said, "India’s emphasis on ‘Make in India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ or self reliant India to increase the role of manufacturing in its economic pie, bears similarity to Indonesia’s successful ‘downstreaming’ policy to develop domestic industries and create quality jobs for the youth."
These similarities also included digitalization, EVs, startups, and green transition. Therefore, Ambassador Chakravorty affirmed India's readiness to launch a new partnership with Indonesia.
Moreover, Ambassador Sandeep Chakravorty further remarked that Indonesia and India are neighbors in maritime, in which the two shared commitment to advancing the maritime sector and making the sea a bridge in increasing bilateral cooperation
Besides, Sandeep Chakravorty said the start of direct flights between the two countries in 2023 will also facilitate closer cultural, tourism and business relations.//VOI.RRI
Lake Toba in New York Times' 52 Places To Go 2024
Indonesia has a lot of great destinations with international recognition. One of them, Lake Toba in North Sumatera, is now recommended by the New York Times in the 52 Places To Go in 2024.
Issued in early January, the list has many tourism destinations of the world, curated by the experts. The curation considers sustainable travel and cultural events.
Toba was number 24 on the list. The lake surrounded by eight regencies of North Sumatra is a superpriority destination of the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry.
The amazing Lake Toba's caldera became UNESCO's world tourism site in 2020.
According to research, Lake Toba's caldera resulted from three eruptions that began around 800.000 - 900.000 years ago. The final eruption 74,000 years ago formed the current caldera.
In Lake Toba, tourists can enjoy both nature and the culture. Around Lake Toba, there are some traditional villages with people still carrying out the customs. In these villages, you can see the traditional house and how the beautiful handmade cloth of Batak people - Ulos - is woven.
Besides Lake Toba, there were also so many places recommended by the New York Times for this year.
Adventurers might like the undersea world Hurghada, Egypt, but those who prefer serenity can go to Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt flat in the world.