Tempo, Foreign Ministry Hold Discussion on Maritime Business
21 April 2017 22:00 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Tempo English Weekly magazine, in collaboration with the Foreign Affairs Ministry, held a discussion themed “Enhancing Maritime Tourism and Empowering Coastal Communities in Indian Ocean” attended by stakeholders of tourism and maritime industries.
“We have invited key policy makers in Indonesian government, relevant business sectors and civil society organizations which are involved in coastal and maritime tourism, as well as coastal communities empowerment. They will share their thoughts, ideas, and experiences and undoubtly provide valuable insights on these issues,” Tempo Media Group senior editor and chief of communication office Wahyu Muryadi said in his opening speech in Jakarta on Friday, April 21, 2017.
According to Wahyu, the discussion was realized from an idea to hold an active discussion. Through the discussion, the government would be able to answer questions related to the theme.
“This is why we want the atmosphere of this discussion to remain as open, transparent and frank as possible, just like the way we work in our newsroom back at Tempo,” Wahyu explained.
The theme was chosen since Indonesia is the current chairman of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and had successfully hosted its first summit in Jakarta in March 2017.
The summit resulted in the Jakarta Concord consisting of commitments to promoting maritime safety and security in the Indian Ocean, increasing trade and investment cooperation, advancing the sustainable and responsible management of fisheries, and strengthening disaster risk management.
“Today, we are going to elaborate on those pointers and learn how Indonesian government, private sectors and civil society translate those commitment to real actions on the ground,” Wahyu said.
Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi reminded challenges faced by IORA members to implement the Jakarta Concord.
“Three issues that we [in the IORA] raised were blue economy, gender equiality, and democracy strengthening. We prepared the action plan, but implementing it will be difficult,” Retno said in her speech.
According to the minister, Indonesia will maintain its commitment until it hands over the IORA leadership to South Africa to South Africa.
Also attending the discussion were Tourism Industry advisor Indroyono Soesilo, Coordinating Maritime Affairs Ministry’s deputy of Natural Resources Agung Kuswandono, and Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry’s directorate general of sea spatial planning secretary Agus Dermawan. Stakeholders of related business attending the discussion included Reef Seen Divers’ Resort director and founder Chris Brown and Winner Perkasa Indonesia Unggul founder Maria Gigih Setiarti.
YOHANES PASKALIS