TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia plans to collaborate with the United States to tackle waste management issues, especially wastes located in tourism development zones.

"Waste has been the biggest challenge for Indonesia's tourism development. Especially considering that next year Indonesia will host two major agendas, the Asian Games and the Annual Meeting of the IMF and the World Bank," Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said on Tuesday, April 11, 2017.

Later on, the partnership will be focused on 10 Bali Baru tourism destinations, in hopes of equally overcoming the problem of wastes. Currently, the World Bank has ratified a partnership related to tourism development of three Bali Baru destinations which include Toba Lake in North Sumatera, Mandalika (West Nusa Tenggara), and Borobudur (Central Java).

The partnership between the Ministry of Tourism and World Bank will start to take effect on July 2017, with a total loan reaching north of USD 200 million. The funds will be used for infrastructure developments and the tourism climate in the three tourist destinations mentioned above.

US Ambassador to Indonesia Joseph R Donovan, stated that the partnership between Indonesian and the United States have been running smoothly and progressively. An in-depth discussion regarding the partnership between Indonesia and the United States will be followed-up during the visit of US Vice President Michael Richard Pence that will take place on April 20, 2017.

ANTARA