Attending PEWIBI Congress, Culture Minister Urges Collaboration to Strengthen Cultural Tourism
Under the theme “Living Cultural Heritage: Towards a Sustainable Archipelagic Civilisation for the Future,” the seminar discussed strengthening collaboration for the development of national cultural tourism. The meeting was attended by PEWIBI executives and members from across Indonesia.
In his speech, Fadli appreciated the presence of PEWIBI as a strategic collaboration partner, aligning with the Ministry of Culture’s position. He emphasised the importance of the mandate in Article 32 Paragraph 1 of the 1945 Constitution, where the state advances Indonesia’s national culture amid the world’s civilisations.
Furthermore, Fadli conveyed that Indonesia’s cultural tourism potential is immense, ranging from the world’s oldest prehistoric paintings to various cultural heritage sites and living heritage scattered across Indonesia. This cultural richness is reflected in the 2,723 nationally recorded intangible cultural heritages, with 16 of them recognised by UNESCO.
“Cultural tourism has enormous economic potential. For example, the management of the Palace of Versailles in France generates around 30 billion rupiah per day from ticket sales, not including merchandise revenue. This shows that culture can be part of economic strengthening through the development of cultural economy and creative industries,” Fadli explained in his statement on Thursday (30/4/2026).
In developing cultural economy, Fadli stressed that cultural development requires cross-sector collaboration, involving government, private sector, academics, communities, and media. He stated that the government is opening opportunities for public-private partnerships to revitalise cultural sites.
“There are also our cultural sites supported and assisted by the private sector, corporations, even philanthropic individuals who love culture,” he clarified.
On this occasion, Fadli also encouraged the transformation of cultural sites so that they are not only static monuments but develop as living heritage that is relevant and useful for society. According to him, through cooperation especially with tourism entrepreneurs, culture will yield good results and become a mutual symbiosis.
“Cultural development cannot be carried out by the government alone. A healthy cultural ecosystem requires cross-sector collaboration, from government, civil society, SOEs, business world, private sector, corporations, media, academics, and communities,” Fadli asserted.
Meanwhile, PEWIBI’s General Chair and founder, Irlisa Rachmadiana, stated that the organisation, officially inaugurated on 30 December 2025, is an association with a vision to assist the government in advancing Indonesia’s culture-based tourism through the capabilities and self-reliance of its members.
“This organisational network has spread from Aceh to Papua, and has representatives on three continents, namely America, Europe, and Asia. PEWIBI continues to commit as a non-political organisation that upholds the spirit of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika,” she explained.
For information, attendees at the meeting included, among others, Special Staff to the Minister for Law and Intellectual Property, B.R.A. Putri Woelan Sari Dewi; Director of History and Museology, Agus Mulyana; Founder II and Supervisory Board of PEWIBI, Wahyuni Sutantri; General Secretary of PEWIBI, Ira Damayanti, as well as the entire PEWIBI ranks.
At the end of the event series, PEWIBI also awarded the 2026 Cultural Figure accolade to Fadli Zon as appreciation for his track record focused on the field of culture.