Kamis, 12 Januari 2012
Opening Speech by the Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia, At the Opening Ceremony of The 31st Meeting of the ASEAN Tourism Forum
Manado, 12 January 2012
Assalamu’alaikum Wr. Wb,
Good Evening, Selamat Malam dan Salam Sejahtera bagi kita semua
I am delighted to welcome all of the delegates and participants of the Meeting of ASEAN Tourism Ministers and the ASEAN Travel Exchange to Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi Province.
Indonesia is truly honored to host the 31st ASEAN Tourism Forum in Manado this year.
As you may observe, Manado is a rapidly emerging growth centre in Eastern Indonesia, and is only 600 km from our nearest ASEAN neighbor, the Southern part of the Philippines. Manado shares many cultural and other similarities with the Philippines, and it is an important gateway to the Asia Pacific region, well positioned to take advantage of tourism routes linking ASEAN and non ASEAN countries. It is therefore a most appropriate setting for the meeting of ASEAN Tourism Forum-2012.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The year 2011 will be remembered for its political turbulence and economic instability especially in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. When we thought that we had turned the corner from the 2009 economic crisis, the outlook for the world economy has instead worsened. Volatility in financial markets is threatening to come back. In some major countries growth is stuttering, business and consumer confidence plunge. In those countries unemployment remains unacceptably high.
In the midst of this tempest citizens have taken to the streets to demand stability, fairness, accountability. They are demanding solutions to address the challenges of our interconnected world.
The 31st ASEAN Tourism Forum is taking place at this crucial moment. The theme of the forum is “ASEAN Tourism for a Global Community of Nations,” which is in line with the theme of Indonesian Chairmanship of ASEAN in 2011. But despite the rather gloomy global picture, we here in ASEAN think that we still have a reservoir of well grounded reasons for optimism.
In evaluating the prospects ahead, it is worthy to note the experience of the 2009 global economic crisis on tourism here in this region. In that year total tourist arrival to ASEAN had not declined despite the ongoing global recession and quickly rebounded thereafter. Tourism to ASEAN continues to grow at higher than average world growth.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Can we hope to see similar outcomes in 2012? I think we can, provided we do the right things together in a synchronized and coordinated way. Doing it alone by individual countries will not do it.
It is a fact that in term of numbers and spending by visitors, Europe is still the largest market in the world. But now Europe is facing a difficult time.
Hence diversifying markets for tourists as well as diversifying and improving the destinations and joint marketing efforts within ASEAN are of the utmost importance. Overall, the source of growth to offset the possible decline of tourists from Europe and other countries experiencing slowdown can come from the emerging economies in Asia. Remember this fact: 43% of ASEAN tourism is intra-ASEAN arrival and around two thirds is from East Asia (ASEAN plus China, Korea, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand)
Yes, our region will be impacted by the slowdown in the world economy, but it is still likely to grow respectably. There is a growing middle class with purchasing power who can still afford to travel. This emphasizes the point why this meeting is important in achieving more intensive ASEAN cooperation, and closer ASEAN cooperation with its dialog partners in East Asia. If we succeed in doing so we can hope that tourism arrivals in ASEAN can continue to be robust.
At the ASEAN and East Asia Summit in November last year, a number of achievements were made and I do hope that this meeting will follow up and continue to build on these achievements. In that light, I very much hope that there will be a continued commitment to implement in a timely way the ASEAN Strategic Tourism Plan. The ASEAN Marketing Strategy which was signed at this meeting is an important strategic action which will be seriously implemented to diversify markets and tourism products and services.
However please remember, what we want is not just increased number of tourist arrivals, but also the quality in terms of spending patterns, and more responsible and sustainable tourism. I see a lot of potential in the thematic and creative tourism that ASEAN is going to develop.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
An important part of ensuring increased tourist arrivals is to facilitate people to people movement. Not only will this enhance tourism with its positive contribution to our economies, but it will also have an exceedingly important indirect benefits, namely increased people to people contact, greater understanding between us in ASEAN as well as between ASEAN and our external partners. This is obviously the key in creating a real ASEAN Community and an ASEAN Community in a global community of nations. It is about greater connectivity between our people.
Facilitation of movement of people will require ASEAN Tourism Ministers to coordinate with other sectors and related ministers within the ASEAN process. A crucial component to facilitate people to people movements is the visa procedures and there will be a need for a closer cooperation among relevant ministries. At the ASEAN Summit in November, Leaders reaffirmed their commitment to ensure the full implementation of visa-free travels for all ASEAN peoples to all ASEAN countries. Leaders have also noted the importance of developing an ASEAN common visa for non ASEAN nationals and have tasked Ministers to come up with a plan to achieve this in a timely way. Such a common visa will facilitate movement of people within ASEAN and for visitors from non ASEAN countries, as well as facilitate joint destinations promotion.
Other than facilitating visa procedures, it will also be important to work towards facilitating travel and connectivity. This will involve coordination with the transportation and infrastructure sectors, and will be part of the important achievements under the ASEAN Master Plan on Connectivity.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
There are concrete and practical areas in which we could and should work closely together. We need to work together as ASEAN to create the ASEAN community and at the same time we need to enhance cooperation with our dialog partners especially in facing the potential slowdown in the world economy.
This is the time for serious commitment to implement the strategic plans and it will be highly important to do this because of the important economic contribution of the tourism sector, as an answer to offset the impact of the global slowdown, and also to enhance people to people contact, which I believe is what the real ASEAN Community is all about. Only through greater people to people contact and thus greater understanding between and amongst us, including the youth and young people who make up half of our population, can we really become one community. This will be our strength as a region and it is also the key to building up a sense of ownership and pride in ASEAN.
In conclusion, let me wish all participants of this Forum every success in your deliberations and also for the ASEAN Travex which will start tomorrow. I would like to invite you to spend a few extra days here to enjoy beautiful North Sulawesi.
Finally, by saying “Bismillahirrahmanirrahim” I declare the ASEAN Tourism Forum and ASEAN Travex, open.
Thank you.
Wassalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.
VICE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
BOEDIONO
Assalamu’alaikum Wr. Wb,
Good Evening, Selamat Malam dan Salam Sejahtera bagi kita semua
I am delighted to welcome all of the delegates and participants of the Meeting of ASEAN Tourism Ministers and the ASEAN Travel Exchange to Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi Province.
Indonesia is truly honored to host the 31st ASEAN Tourism Forum in Manado this year.
As you may observe, Manado is a rapidly emerging growth centre in Eastern Indonesia, and is only 600 km from our nearest ASEAN neighbor, the Southern part of the Philippines. Manado shares many cultural and other similarities with the Philippines, and it is an important gateway to the Asia Pacific region, well positioned to take advantage of tourism routes linking ASEAN and non ASEAN countries. It is therefore a most appropriate setting for the meeting of ASEAN Tourism Forum-2012.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The year 2011 will be remembered for its political turbulence and economic instability especially in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. When we thought that we had turned the corner from the 2009 economic crisis, the outlook for the world economy has instead worsened. Volatility in financial markets is threatening to come back. In some major countries growth is stuttering, business and consumer confidence plunge. In those countries unemployment remains unacceptably high.
In the midst of this tempest citizens have taken to the streets to demand stability, fairness, accountability. They are demanding solutions to address the challenges of our interconnected world.
The 31st ASEAN Tourism Forum is taking place at this crucial moment. The theme of the forum is “ASEAN Tourism for a Global Community of Nations,” which is in line with the theme of Indonesian Chairmanship of ASEAN in 2011. But despite the rather gloomy global picture, we here in ASEAN think that we still have a reservoir of well grounded reasons for optimism.
In evaluating the prospects ahead, it is worthy to note the experience of the 2009 global economic crisis on tourism here in this region. In that year total tourist arrival to ASEAN had not declined despite the ongoing global recession and quickly rebounded thereafter. Tourism to ASEAN continues to grow at higher than average world growth.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Can we hope to see similar outcomes in 2012? I think we can, provided we do the right things together in a synchronized and coordinated way. Doing it alone by individual countries will not do it.
It is a fact that in term of numbers and spending by visitors, Europe is still the largest market in the world. But now Europe is facing a difficult time.
Hence diversifying markets for tourists as well as diversifying and improving the destinations and joint marketing efforts within ASEAN are of the utmost importance. Overall, the source of growth to offset the possible decline of tourists from Europe and other countries experiencing slowdown can come from the emerging economies in Asia. Remember this fact: 43% of ASEAN tourism is intra-ASEAN arrival and around two thirds is from East Asia (ASEAN plus China, Korea, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand)
Yes, our region will be impacted by the slowdown in the world economy, but it is still likely to grow respectably. There is a growing middle class with purchasing power who can still afford to travel. This emphasizes the point why this meeting is important in achieving more intensive ASEAN cooperation, and closer ASEAN cooperation with its dialog partners in East Asia. If we succeed in doing so we can hope that tourism arrivals in ASEAN can continue to be robust.
At the ASEAN and East Asia Summit in November last year, a number of achievements were made and I do hope that this meeting will follow up and continue to build on these achievements. In that light, I very much hope that there will be a continued commitment to implement in a timely way the ASEAN Strategic Tourism Plan. The ASEAN Marketing Strategy which was signed at this meeting is an important strategic action which will be seriously implemented to diversify markets and tourism products and services.
However please remember, what we want is not just increased number of tourist arrivals, but also the quality in terms of spending patterns, and more responsible and sustainable tourism. I see a lot of potential in the thematic and creative tourism that ASEAN is going to develop.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
An important part of ensuring increased tourist arrivals is to facilitate people to people movement. Not only will this enhance tourism with its positive contribution to our economies, but it will also have an exceedingly important indirect benefits, namely increased people to people contact, greater understanding between us in ASEAN as well as between ASEAN and our external partners. This is obviously the key in creating a real ASEAN Community and an ASEAN Community in a global community of nations. It is about greater connectivity between our people.
Facilitation of movement of people will require ASEAN Tourism Ministers to coordinate with other sectors and related ministers within the ASEAN process. A crucial component to facilitate people to people movements is the visa procedures and there will be a need for a closer cooperation among relevant ministries. At the ASEAN Summit in November, Leaders reaffirmed their commitment to ensure the full implementation of visa-free travels for all ASEAN peoples to all ASEAN countries. Leaders have also noted the importance of developing an ASEAN common visa for non ASEAN nationals and have tasked Ministers to come up with a plan to achieve this in a timely way. Such a common visa will facilitate movement of people within ASEAN and for visitors from non ASEAN countries, as well as facilitate joint destinations promotion.
Other than facilitating visa procedures, it will also be important to work towards facilitating travel and connectivity. This will involve coordination with the transportation and infrastructure sectors, and will be part of the important achievements under the ASEAN Master Plan on Connectivity.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
There are concrete and practical areas in which we could and should work closely together. We need to work together as ASEAN to create the ASEAN community and at the same time we need to enhance cooperation with our dialog partners especially in facing the potential slowdown in the world economy.
This is the time for serious commitment to implement the strategic plans and it will be highly important to do this because of the important economic contribution of the tourism sector, as an answer to offset the impact of the global slowdown, and also to enhance people to people contact, which I believe is what the real ASEAN Community is all about. Only through greater people to people contact and thus greater understanding between and amongst us, including the youth and young people who make up half of our population, can we really become one community. This will be our strength as a region and it is also the key to building up a sense of ownership and pride in ASEAN.
In conclusion, let me wish all participants of this Forum every success in your deliberations and also for the ASEAN Travex which will start tomorrow. I would like to invite you to spend a few extra days here to enjoy beautiful North Sulawesi.
Finally, by saying “Bismillahirrahmanirrahim” I declare the ASEAN Tourism Forum and ASEAN Travex, open.
Thank you.
Wassalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.
VICE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
BOEDIONO
