Sandiaga: Govt Focuses on Helping 34 Million Workers

KOMPAS/COKORDA YUDISTIRA

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno (second from left) held a press conference with the Governor of Bali Wayan Koster after their meeting at Gedung Jaya Sabha, the official residence of the Governor of Bali in Denpasar City, Thursday (11/2/2021).

As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the tourism and creative economy sector has suffered for nearly a year. A total of 2.6 million jobs and 34 million people in the sector were affected.

Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno said the pandemic response had been the commander of the country’s economic recovery. Currently, the government’s focus is on protecting the tourism and creative economy sector from being permanently damaged and for it to rise from calamity. This is being done by, among other things, increasing data-based grants this year.

The pandemic has also shifted the direction of the tourism and creative economy sector. There are opportunities to rise through adaptation and innovation.

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The following is an excerpt from Kompas’ interview on Thursday (18/2/20210 with Sandiaga, who was based in Kampial village in Badung, Bali as he did not have to attend any meetings with other ministries.

What is the government strategy to restore the tourism and creative economy sector?

Tourism is the sector worst hit by the pandemic as a result of restricted mobility. To recover the sector, therefore, we have to handle the pandemic. We don’t want to disrupt the effort to curb COVID-19 transmission with economic and tourism recovery. We believe that recovering the health sector is key.

We must ensure that tourism, which used to be a mainstay, is not permanently damaged. The focus this year, therefore, is how the 34 million people who depend on this sector can survive. So far, 2.6 million jobs in this sector have been affected, almost 90 percent of creative economy workers have lost their jobs. The numbers keep going up.

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There are four simultaneous and integrated stages, namely preparation to enter the “new normal”, preparations of tourist destinations, building public trust and picking up opportunities to recover from the pandemic. I believe if we are disciplined in complying with the 3M health protocols, conducting the 3T measures and getting vaccinated, we are heading towards the beginning of an end. We have already seen a glimmer of light at the end of this long tunnel. We must be prepared to pick up the light when conditions begin to recover.

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Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno

Which area(s) are the first focus for recovery?

The main focus, according to the President’s direction, is the five super-priority destinations, namely Lake Toba in North Sumatra, Borobudur temple in Central Java, Mandalika in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), North Likupang in North Sulawesi and Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).

We have continued to conduct data-based simulations. What activities and which regions should be given additional stimulation and subsidies? We look at the map of the impacts experienced by the tourism and creative economy sector, so that the national economic recovery program can be optimally realized and felt by the community, especially to maintain employment.

What are the challenges?

The main challenge is to maintain discipline and comply with health protocols. The country’s Covid-19 testing is good. However, tracking and handling are not yet optimal. The next challenge is to prepare a new model of more qualified and sustainable tourism. The pandemic could be a turning point and change the direction of tourism and creative economy, which so far has been chasing numbers and quantity, to pursuing quality.

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The toughest challenge, however, is related to employment. What is not visible is the ever-declining working hours. Social assistance may have only slowed down the decline in economic growth. We must replace it with productive, labor-intensive, innovative and collaborative recovery programs.

How about this year’s plan on subsidy and assistance for business actors and tourism workers as well as creative economy?

Our economy is made up of 60 percent consumption. It is, therefore, highly necessary to save 34 million workers in this sector. Assistance is given directly to the household economy in the form of subsidies, aids and grants. In 2020, the number of tourism grant program funds absorbed was Rp 2.2 trillion, or 70 percent of the total Rp 3.3 trillion grant funds, to 6,818 hotels and 7,625 restaurants. This year, Rp 2.7 trillion to Rp 3.7 trillion tourism grants have been proposed.

We must replace it with productive, labor-intensive, innovative and collaborative recovery programs.

The key is data. I challenge my colleagues at the forefront, including local governments, industry players and associations, to send verified, validated and clean data. Then we can input and collect it as a foundation for our policy.

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The Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Uno, visited the Ginjang Huta in the Lake Toba Area, North Tapanuli Regency, North Sumatra, Wednesday (30/12/2020).

Are there any discussions on the travel bubble plan? What is the concept?

We have intensively talked with Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, China and several other countries. If our Covid-19 tally significantly decreases and the situation is more conducive, we can make it happen. We will start with Bali as the pilot project with China. People who come to Bali must be vaccinated or go through a very rigorous testing phase. We might start with 5,000 people per month. Then we can increase the number based on the latest data. In Bintan, we want to try the “blue pass” concept with Singapore. Although local tourists are now the mainstay, we must prepare for foreign ones, especially based on quality and sustainability.

The United Nations has designated 2021 as the Year of International Creative Economy. How are the government’s strategies and measures in mainstreaming creative economy as well as in promoting its recovery?

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Due to the pandemic, what we can possibly do are online-based or hybrid activities. For us, this is both a challenge and an opportunity. I have coordinated with the Foreign Ministry to provide facilities to organize several creative economy activities. Indonesia is very creative, so we should have taken a much bigger role. The other focuses are resilience, sustainability and job creation.

How much is the stimulus for creative economy actors?

Especially for micro-scale creative economy, excluding the budget for the tourism sector, we need Rp 3 trillion to 5 trillion. If combined, the entire tourism and creative economy sector needs Rp 12 trillion to 13 trillion. I am also initiating the establishment of a funding agency outside the state budget funding called the Tourism and Creative Economy Sector Rescue Fund. In the early stages, maybe the agency could be managed to recover the country’s strategic assets that are actually in good condition, but because of the pandemic have to be laid down. We will restructure those, so that they can have longer lives.

This article was translated by Camilia Adianti.