TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia’s State-owned Enterprises or SOE Minister Erick Thohir stated that Bali Island has great potential to become a medical tourism center in Southeast Asia, which will surely boost the economy of local communities.

Sanur has been chosen as a special economic zone that integrates health and tourism in order to provide inclusive health services, digital-based economic transformation, and a transition towards sustainable energy.

We are taking advantage of the natural beauty of Bali to treat patients with world-class health services. This has increasingly globalized Sanur as an international health tourism destination," said Erick in an official statement in Jakarta on Monday, January 16, 2023.

Erick visited the zone along with former president Megawati Soekarno on Monday, January 16, 2023. The area was built based on the first President Soekarno or Bung Karno's tourism vision to advance Indonesia on the international stage. The SOE Ministry is now transforming the area into a comprehensive tourist destination that focuses on health tourism.

In an area of 41.26 hectares, the government will build international standard hospitals and clinics in collaboration with the largest hospital in the United States, the Mayo Clinic. In addition, the Bali Beach Hotel or Grand Inna Bali Beach (GIBB), convention center, ethnomedicinal botanic garden, and commercial center for MSMEs will be revitalized.

Hotel Bali Beach or GIBB is a hotel designed by Bung Karno which was built in 1963 and completed in 1966.

The transformation of the Sanur tourist area is the second revitalization effort executed on Soekarno's legacy. Previously, the SOE Ministry revamped Sarinah Trade Center, built by Bung Karno in 1962, into a place of collaboration for creative economy players and a national MSME center.

ANTARA

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