House Member Urges Tourism Ministry to Adjust 2027 Budget to Strengthen MSMEs
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Member of Commission VII of the House of Representatives (DPR RI), Putra Nababan, has asked the Ministry of Tourism to adjust the spending composition in its proposed additional budget for 2027 to provide a larger portion for strengthening MSMEs and local tourism actors.
During a working meeting with the Ministry of Tourism in Jakarta on Wednesday, Putra assessed that the structure of the proposed additional budget of Rp1.99 trillion needs to be aligned with efforts to strengthen the real sector, which is an important part of the national tourism ecosystem. He observed a disparity in allocations between programmes, particularly between marketing, event organisation, and tourism industry development.
“I see that the Deputy for Marketing is requesting a fairly massive additional portion, Rp647 billion. Events are requesting Rp216 billion. But what concerns me is that industry and investment only get Rp35 billion, even though this handles the empowerment of MSMEs and real business actors,” said Putra.
Furthermore, Putra asked the Ministry of Tourism to reconsider the removal of deconcentration funds in 2027, as these have been an instrument of central government support for regional tourism development.
“Why is this being removed? At the very least, Minister, this should be provided on a limited basis with a priority scale so that the ministry shows favour to the regions. I think it is unwise to leave it completely empty,” he stated.
During the meeting, Putra also highlighted the relationship between the budget amount and tourism sector foreign exchange earnings. He noted that in several periods, foreign exchange increased even though the budget underwent adjustments.
“So, when given a large budget, the foreign exchange is 150; when the budget is cut in half, the foreign exchange goes up. This is interesting,” he said. According to him, this condition can serve as evaluation material in determining the future financing strategy for the tourism sector.
Putra also paid attention to the proposed additional budget for Tourism Polytechnics, which is largely directed towards the construction of facilities and infrastructure. He argued that the budget increase must be accompanied by measurable outcome indicators for the community.
“Not a single Poltekpar that requested an increase of hundreds of percent set an outcome target. What percentage of graduates will directly work to develop local tourism villages? Or what percentage of MSME turnover increased with assistance from Poltekpar? That is real. There is none,” he asserted.
Despite conveying several notes, the PDI Perjuangan faction stated its approval of the Ministry of Tourism’s proposed additional budget of Rp1.99 trillion, with the expectation that the spending composition will be adjusted so that the programme benefits are felt more by small business actors and communities in the regions.
“For this reason, we approve this additional budget proposal, with the note that we demand an adjustment to the spending architecture so that it fully favours small entrepreneurs, MSMEs, and tourism actors in the real sector,” Putra concluded.