B Y hosting the upcoming World Eco-

nomic Forum (WEF) on East Asia,

Indonesia will get better exposure as an

important economy and promising in-

vestment destination in the Asia-Pacific

region, a government official says.

Communications and Information Min-

istry spokesman Freddy H. Tulung said

Tuesday that the forum, which would be

attended by high-ranking figures ranging

from leaders of global companies and

government representatives to influen-

tial academics and NGO activists, would

be a great stage to showcase the coun-

try’s economic potential.

―The forum will also be the place to

promote cooperation between interna-

tional and local companies. The coop-

eration will include investments, product

and service innovations as well as mar-

ket access,‖ he said at a press confer-

ence at the ministry in Jakarta on Tues-

day. (7 June).

Through the forum, which is scheduled

to take place on June 12-13 in Jakarta,

Indonesia aims to invite all participants

to boost cooperation and collaboration

in the Asia-Pacific region to face future

challenges such as food and energy

scarcities, climate change, imbalanced

growth and unemployment, Freddy said.

―The WEF on East Asia in Indonesia

shows the international community’s

trust in the country’s role in the Asia

Pacific,‖ he emphasized.

Trade Ministry Director General for

International Trade Cooperation Gus-

mardi Bustami said Indonesia was cho-

sen to host the forum because of its

promising economic growth and political

stability under President Susilo Bam-

bang Yudhoyono.

―That acknowledgement is good am-

munition for the country to stand out as

a potential investment and tourism des-

tination,‖ he said.

Last year, Indonesia’s economy ex-

panded 6.1 percent. In the first quarter

of 2011, the economy grew by 6.5 per-

cent. The government forecasts the

economy to grow by between 6.5 and

6.9 percent in its 2012 macroeconomic

assumptions submitted to the House of

Representatives last week.

The vice chairman of the Indonesian

Chambers of Commerce and Industry

(Kadin) for organization, membership,

regional empowerment and corporate

governance, Anindya Novyan Bakrie,

said that through the WEF, Indonesia

could show that its economic and politi-

cal conditions were conducive to coop-

eration and investments.

―We need investments in many sec-

tors such as infrastructure, industry and

tourism. Investments can’t come exclu-

sively from local companies. The involve-

ment of global companies is necessary,‖

he said at the press conference.

The Trade Ministry reported that so far,

624 participants had registered with the

forum organizing committee — the larg-

est amount in the history of the WEF.

The WEF is a Swiss non-profit founda-

tion known for hosting the more famous

forum with a global scope in Davos, Swit-

zerland. The WEF was established in

1971 by several companies in Europe.

The foundation, according to its web-

site, is an independent international

organization committed to improving the

world by engaging business, political,

academic and other leaders of society to

shape global, regional and industry agen-

das. ▪ The Jakarta Post.

WEF EVENT ‘WILL PROMWEF EVENT ‘WILL PROMOTE RI PROFILE IN OTE RI PROFILE IN

THE WORLD ECONOMY’THE WORLD ECONOMY’

VP calls for increase in RI's hajj

pilgrimage quota

2

An Exciting Extended Tour de

Singkarak 2011

2

Bali will have world`s highest

power tower

2

Tourism seen as Samosir dis-

trict`s best source of income

3

Sail Wakatobi Belitong officially

launched

3

Volume II, Issue 15

V ICE President Boediono called for en-

hanced economic cooperation among

countries taking part in the 7th World Is-

lamic Economic Forum (WIEF) in Astana,

Kazakhstan, on Wednesday (June 8) to

address the increasingly formidable eco-

nomic challenges.

"The world has just experienced very

serious economic meltdown and has not

yet recovered from it. Now is the right time

for us to cooperate in dealing with the

challenge and hindrance to the only ac-

cess to recovery, namely economic

growth," the vice president said in an

emailed statement to ANTARA.

Through the forum, WIEF member coun-

tries could try to identify practical steps to

ensure that the planned economic growth

could be achieved in a fair manner in ac-

cordance with Islamic teachings, he said.

Better connectivity among and within

WIEF member countries was a key to

achieving growth for the better mobility

and efficient use of resources, he said.

In the meantime, better connectivity

was also an important step to narrow

and reduce disparities among and within

WIEF member countries, he said.

The vice president further said the

Muslim community had a sacred mis-

sion as a proactive player and maker of

global consensus.

"We must accept it as part of our tasks

to contribute to the settlement of urgent

global issues which are now being faced

by mankind such as food and energy

security, climate change, natural disas-

ters and transnational crimes," he said.

WIEF was established by Malaysia`s

World Islamic Economic Forum Founda-

tion to encourage economic relations

within the Muslim world, as well as con-

necting non-Muslim societies to Muslim

ones via business. ▪ Antara.

T HE successful Tour de Singkarak

held last year, will again be staged

from 6th – 12th June, this year covering

an extended route of 813 km. taking in

tough mountainous terrain over 12 of

West Sumatra’s most scenic and culture

-rich districts.

All 12 district heads in West Sumatra

have declared their readiness and sup-

port for the Tour de Singkarak (TDS).

This year, organizers also involve the

Amaury Sport Organization (ASO) from

France, most experienced in handling

the Tour De France.

DR. Sapta Nirwandar, Tourism Market-

ing Director General of the Ministry for

Culture and Tourism stated that support

from the 12 district authorities is in par-

ticular for the major race prizes.

―Additionally, a number of facilities and

infrastructural support for the event are

also part of this commitment‖ said

Sapta Nirwandar, who was accompanied

by West Sumatra Governor, Irwan Pray-

itno, after meeting all participating dis-

trict heads.

This year’s competition comprises

seven stages across scenic and cultural

terrain, passing 12 districts and cities in

West Sumatra, covering a total distance

of 813Km.

The first stage will take place entirely

in and around the city of Padang, while

the 2nd stage will cover the distance be-

tween Padang to Pariaman. Then on to

the 3rd stage: from Pariaman to Bukit-

tinggi, the 4th stage: from Bukittinggi to

Payakumbuh, the 5th Stage: Payakum-

buh to Sawahlunto , the 6th A stage: from

SawahLunto to Pagarruyung, the 6th B

Stage: from Pagarruyung to Padang Pan-

jang, and 7th or final stage: from Padang

Panjang to Singkarak. These stages will

pass through some of the most beautiful

tourist destinations that include the Jam

Gadang Clock Tower and the Sianok

Gorge at Bukittinggi and for the finale

the stunning Lake Singkarak.

Meantime, detiksport.com reported

that 225 bicycle racers have confirmed

attendance comprising10 teams from

Indonesia and 15 international teams.

The Tour De Singkarak 2011, which

this year marks its third year has been

included in the annual agenda of the

International Bicycling Sport Organiza-

tion or the Union Cycliste Internationale

(UCI). The UCI further supports TDS

2011, and endorses its worldwide promo-

tion.

Combining Sports and Tourism, the Tour

De Singkarak 2011 takes participants to

an exciting adventure through the vast

undulating countryside of West Sumatra.

The tour will not only offer fierce competi-

tion among racers but it is a chance to

unveil all the hidden wonders from Padang

all the way to Lake Singkarak.

Official Website of Tour De Singkarak

2011: www.tourdesingkarak.com

AN EXCITING EXTENDED TOUR DE SINGKARAK 2011

BALI WILL HAVE

WORLD`S HIGHEST

POWER TOWER

S TATE electricity company PT PLN

planned to erect a 376 meters

power transmission tower, to be the high-

est in the world in Gilimanuk to

smoothen power transmission from Java

to Bali.

This was disclosed by president director

of PT PLN Dahlan Iskan on the sidelines

of a seminar themed "The Function of

Control for Legal Enforcement and Good

Governance" in Denpasar on Thursday.

(June 9). "We call the tower `Bali cross-

ing` which will transmit electricity from

Java to Bali with a capacity of up to

3,000 megawatts," he said.

He said that a very high tower would be

needed to transmit electricity from the

Paiton power plant in East Java, which

has a capacity of thousands of mega-

watts to Bali.

"The construction of the tower will be

started by the end of this year or early

next year," he said.

Its feet only, Dahlan said, have the size

of a soccer field with a lift in the middle,

and the width of the upper part of the

tower`s cable is 70 meters from one

point to the other.

The large width will be made to prevent

strong winds to cause the two cables to

touch one another, considering that in

the last 100 years the speed of the wind

over the island paradise had reached 60

meters per minute.

The tower and its cables will be built to

enable it to withstand very strong winds

blowing up to 70 meters per minute. "The

tower will also be the pride of Bali, as it

would be higher than the current highest

in the world in People`s China, which is

370 meters high," he said. ▪ Antara.

VP CALLS FOR ENHANCEVP CALLS FOR ENHANCED COOPERA-D COOPERA-TION AMONG WIEF MEMBER STATESTION AMONG WIEF MEMBER STATES

Page 3 Volume II, Issue 15

E NDOWED with beautiful natural

scenery and unique cultural assets,

the most potential source of income of

Samosir district in North Sumatra is

tourism, the region`s leader said.

Samosir district head Mangindar Sim-

bolon said in the district town of Pangu-

ruan on Friday (June 10, 2011) that the

district could rely on its the beauty of

natural environment and unique cultural

assets to earn as much foreign ex-

change as possible.

"Based on an analysis of Samosir`s

economic development potentials , the

region can earn foreign exchange from

tourism as it has natural beauty, unique

culture, and well preserved environ-

ment," Mangindar Simbolon said.

He said Samosir is one of the districts

in Indonesia with tourism vision to make

the district a tourist destination in an

innovative environment in 2015.

Therefore Mangindar said he has in-

cluded tourism in the school`s local

content, in addition to establishing Sec-

ondary Vocational School (SMK) of tour-

ism three years ago.

According to Manindar, Samosir island

has untold

n a t u r a l

beauty with

its Bataknese

unique cul-

ture that

could attract

tourists from

year to year.

From its

e n v i r o n -

mental side,

Samosir is

good for

sports para-

gliding sports

and water

sports.

It is be-

cause Samosir island is located in the

middle of Lake Toba, the largest fresh

water area in Southeast Asia.

"A lot of water sports including swim-

ming, diving, and skiing can be devel-

oped in Samosir," Manindar said.

Besides, he added that adventure tour-

ism such as international scale "cross

country" and "extreme trail-mania" could

also be developed in Samosir because its

people have been ready to turn the area

into a district with tourism vision.

Therefore Samosir district government

will continue to develop every potential

to make the area an environmentally-

based tourism destination that has to be

strengthened into a dominant sector in

the district. ▪ Antara.

TOURISM SEEN AS SAMOTOURISM SEEN AS SAMOTOURISM SEEN AS SAMOSIR DISTRICT`S BEST SOURCE OF INCOMESIR DISTRICT`S BEST SOURCE OF INCOMESIR DISTRICT`S BEST SOURCE OF INCOME

C OORDINATING Minister for Peo-

ple`s Welfare Agung Laksono

flanked by Marine Affairs and Fisheries

Minister Fadel Muhammad officially

launched the Sail Wakatobi Belitong

(SWB) or Sail Indonesia 2011 on Tues-

day (June 7).

The launching was expected to help

promote the international event to the

public worldwide, Minister Fadel said as

quoted in a press release of the marine

affairs and fisheries ministry on

Wednesday. (June 8).

The SWB 2011 is being held in Waka-

tobi, Southeast Sulawesi Province, and

Belitung in Bangka Belitung (Babel)

Province.

Minister Fadel has outlined four objec-

tives of the marine event, namely: to

make harmonization in benefiting the

regions` potential for the welfare of the

people; to promote Wakatobi and Beli-

tung as domestic and international tour-

ist destinations; to create the best sail-

ing passange; and to make the marine

and fishery potential in the two regions

as a living source for the local people

and the source of sustainable develop-

ment in the regions.

The SWB 2011`s theme is "Clean

Ocean for the Future" and it will have six

main activities.

The six main activities are yacht rally

and yacht race, a Bhakti Surya Baskara

Jaya civic mission, national and interna-

tional seminars, marine youth cross

country, and an exhibition on small

scale and medium businesses as well

as fishery products.

The peak events, which President

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is expected

to be present, will respectively take

place at Sombu beach, Wakatobi, on

August 23-29, 2011, and at Tanjung

Kelayang Beach, Belitong on October 5-

12, 2011.

The flagging off event to mark the start

of the yacht rally and yacht race will be

held in Darwin, Australia, on July 23,

2011. It will include a tour of 21 dis-

tricts in Indonesia from Kupang (East

Nusa Tenggara Province) or Saumlaki

(Maluku), to Belitung (Bangka Belitung,

Sumatra) or Batam (Riau Islands, Suma-

tra).

Other activities highlighting the SWB

2011 will include the inauguration of a

marine institute at Wakatobi, underwa-

ter mass weddings, underwater chess

game, diving contests, a national sailing

competition, a traditional sport festival,

beach and sea clean up, and a tradi-

tional culture and art festival.

The SWB 2011 is continuation of Sail

Indonesia 2009 in Bunaken, and Bitung

SAIL WAKATOBI BELITOSAIL WAKATOBI BELITOSAIL WAKATOBI BELITONG OFFICIALLY LAUNCHEDNG OFFICIALLY LAUNCHEDNG OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED

B INTAN, an is-

land in the Riau

Islands province, has

a beautiful coastline

that runs about 100

kilometers, most of

which comprises

pristine white sandy

beaches.

Located a 30-minute

ferry ride from

Batam or 45 min-

utes away from Singapore by a high-speed

catamaran, Bintan is the largest of no less

than 3,200 islands in the Riau archipelago.

It is often described as a unique para-

dise, where life is simple and its multicul-

tural population of some 200.000 people –

mostly Javanese, Buginese and Chinese –

are friendly and live in harmony.

Bintan was initially part of the Riau Prov-

ince, but to accommodate post-reform

separatist sentiments the government and

the House of Representatives agreed to

spin off Riau Islands as a separate prov-

ince in July 2004 with Tanjung Pinang as

its capital.

In visiting Bintan, most holidaymakers

and pleasure-seekers head straight to Bin-

tan Resort where life seldom moves be-

yond sitting by swimming pools sipping gin

tonics at luxury hotels, snorkeling, fishing,

canoeing and wind surfing. Its all-year

round sunny weather allows for upscale

activities such as golfing, jet-skiing, sailing,

diving and island hopping.

Most tourism activities are concentrated

on the north coast around Lagoi, while the

east coast is still unspoiled and worth a

visit. To those with a passion for facts and

figures: there are seven international ho-

tels, four resorts and three international

golf courses with 36 holes in Bintan Resort,

covering 23,000 hectares, designed by

Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Greg Nor-

man.

Comparisons to Bali’s tourist enclave

Nusa Dua is inevitable but this is hardly an-

apple-to-apple exercise. While the resort

island is by all measures unique and dis-

tinctive to the point of being in a class of its

own, Bintan has sufficient drawing power to

attract large numbers of tourists from

Europe, Japan and South Korea (and, of

course, Singapore) and foreign companies

to hold their annual meetings.

Local tourist guidebooks trace Bintan

back to the 13th century, when the island

was a part of the magnificent Sriwijaya

Empire of what is now South Sumatra.

As historical data show, Sri Tri Buana, a

member of the royal family of Palembang,

visited Riau Islands in 1290 and joined

forces with the island’s ruler to take over

Bintan and later became its king.

Since then Bintan has become a peren-

nial battleground involving the Malacca

and Johor sultanates, the Portuguese, the

Buginese, the Acehnese and the Dutch

because of its strategic location as a port

and trade center in the region.

But when the British in 1819 discovered

and developed Singapore to became a

regional trading center, Bintan’s stature

diminished enormously. The island experi-

enced a permanent reversal of political and

trading fortune and today remains over-

shadowed by neighboring Batam and Sin-

gapore.

―In the 1980s, the leaders of Indonesia,

Malaysia and Singapore initiated the Sijori

(Singapore, Johor and Indonesia) Growth

Triangle and signed agreements to invest

in Bintan and Batam, the latter once a de-

serted island that was turned into a special

bonded zone,‖ says, Abdul Waahab, the

Singaporean GM of Nirwana Gardens.

Singapore also signed a special agree-

ment with Indonesia to lease its northern

coast and develop it into a resort called

Bintan Resort. The powerful Salim Group

was then brought in to join forces with Sin-

gapore’s equally powerful business group,

Sembawang, to develop the area.

It now features excellent infrastructure

and is home to such luxury and exclusive

entities such as Nirwana Gardens, Club

Mediteranee, Bintan Lagoon and Banyan

Tree.

At one time Bintan saw huge investments

coming their way, including industrial parks

that many Japanese and American compa-

nies use as their manufacturing base.

For some reasons, not the least the

global economic crisis, that lustre has

slightly worn off. But that has not prevented

Bintan to remain as a popular tourist desti-

nation with its own brand of allure.

Places of Interest in Bintan

1. Tanjung Pinang. The main and busy port

town, where trader and passenger ships

link all parts of Indonesia with Singa-

pore. In many ways, the city reminds us

of Bogor in West Java some 20 years

ago, as it transforms itself from a quaint

and rustic place into a city teeming with

ATMs and internet kiosks.

2. Tanjung Uban. The second largest town

after Tanjung Pinang, on the north west-

ern coast of Bintan Island. Along the

seaside is a charming boardwalk called

―Pelantar‖ with houses, accommoda-

tions and restaurants built above the

sea, where you can buy art works and

handicrafts.

3. Senggarang Island. Visit the over 300

years old banyan tree temple. Another

temple is also on hand, Xuan Tian

Shang-di, named after a Chinese ruler.

4. Penyengat Island. 15 Minutes away

away from Tanjung Pinang by motor-

powered sampan boat. Spend some

time at a 200-year-old well-maintained

grand mosque of the Sultan of Riau, an

old palace and royal tombs, and a typi-

cal Riau traditional house.

5. Pantai Trikora. A beach on the east

coast where the sand is white and the

water clean, a great place for relaxation.

Visit also a nearby fishing village and a

small traditional boat building facility.

What to do in Bintan

1. Mountain Biking. The quiet, hilly and

well-maintained roads of Bintan are

ideal for biking.

2. Bintan Elephant Park. Seven Sumatran

elephants beckon you to an interactive

adventure by offering you a ride into the

forest.

3. Gunung Bintan Adventure Trek. The 340

meter high mountain of Gunung Bintan

offers visitors breathtaking panoramic

views from the summit. Bintan’s rainfor-

est features giant trees and rare ani-

mals.

4. Mangrove Discovery Tour. The beauty

and mystique of Bintan’s flora and

fauna. ▪ garudamagazine.com.

GetawayGetawayGetaway

BINTAN A PARADISE IN ITS OWN RIGHTBINTAN A PARADISE IN ITS OWN RIGHTBINTAN A PARADISE IN ITS OWN RIGHT A visit to Bintan offers you an insight

into its illustrious past as well as its

promising future in the realm of tourism.