Indonesian govt wants acceleration of Mandalika resort development
Vice President M. Jusuf Kalla, when inspecting preparations for the
construction of four star-rated hotels in the area Saturday, asked PT
Indonesian Tourism Development Corporations (ITDC) management to
accelerate the development of Mandalika which is being groomed as a
world class tourist resort and special economic zone in Central Lombok,
West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) province.
The development of the Mandalika Special Economic Zone and Tourist
Resort Area should be accelerated so that the local people could soon
enjoy its economic benefits and improve their welfare, the Vice
President said.
The Mandalika KEK project was planned 25 years ago but several
constraints had always hampered its realization, he said.
"The constraints included inadequate road infrastructure, the absence of
airport, electricity and clean water supplies. But all these have been
overcome so there is no reason to slow down the development of
Mandalika," he said.
West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) province is expected to have a world-class
tourist resort comparable to Bali, when the Mandalika Resort Development
project in Central Lombok District is completed.
The development of the US$3 billion Mandalika Resort, which is expected
to attract one million tourists annually, began in October 2011. Then
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono inaugurated its groundbreaking.
Sitting on a 1,175 hectare area in Kuta, Pujut subdistrict, Central
Lombok, the Mandalika Resort will be developed into one of the national
tourism icons, even of the world, then chief economic minister Hatta
Rajasa had said.
The development of the project was continued under the present
government of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi). After all, the Jokowi
government is launching the development of dozens of Special Economic
Zones (KEKs) in various parts of the country to spur the peoples local
economy and improve their welfare.
The government is developing eight special economic zones (KEK) in
various parts of the country and will later open seven additional zones
to drive economic activities and help boost economic growth.
One of the KEKs is the Mandalika zone which is also being developed as
an international tourist resort.
In order to accelerate the development of economic zones, the Capital
Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) began promoting the development of
integrated investment license service systems in the KEK area.
BKPM will cooperate with KEK administrators, local governments in
provinces and districts to assure the availability of standard
operational procedures (SOP) within the KEK zones, BKPM Chief Franky
Sibarani said last June.
The KEK played a strategic role as a center of economic growth and
absorption of workers, he added. Efforts are needed to expedite the
licensing process so that investors would be attracted to invest in the
KEK zones.
The BKPM chief cited the Mandalika KEK area as an example in West Nusa
Tenggara which is able to offer jobs to 58,000 direct workers and
200,000 indirect workers during its construction period.
The efforts to integrate the licensing services in the KEK are made as
part of the One-Stop Service (PTSP) system between the central and
regional governments being launched by the BKPM, he stated.
Therefore, Vice President Jusuf Kalla asked for the acceleration of the
development of the Mandalika resort and economic zone so that the local
people will soon enjoy its benefits.
The central government is ready to support the development of the
Mandalika KEK through PT ITDC, a state-owned company under the Ministry
of State-owned Enterprises (BUMN), he said.
"I want the development of the Mandalika KEK and resort area to be
expedited. Sometime in the past, we faced three main problems, namely
water supply, electricity and airport. That time, the airport was still
in Mataram (NTB provincial capital). We need over one hour to reach
Mandalika. But now, we can count it in several minutes only to arrive at
Mandalika (as airport is already available)," the Vice President said.
The government will continue to develop the Mandalika area for it to
become one of the countrys main tourist destinations comparable to the
international tourist resort province of Bali and the Komodo Island, he
said.
"Now, Mandalika has become more complete. After all, the development of
this resort has been planned for 25 years," Jusuf Kalla stated during
his inspection of the Mandalika Resort.
The tourist resorts in many parts of the country should be able to
attract foreign tourists, he said. For this, they should have many
innovations in their development so that they would remain attractive to
tourists and invite more investment.
"The easiest effort to attract investment is by developing the tourism
business because the capital needed for that purpose is not too big,"
the Vice President said during an Indonesia Attractiveness Award 2015
event in Jakarta recently.