Strategic Agreement With The European Union And Canada Opens Significant Opportunities

The signing of the Indonesia European Union Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IEUCEPA) and Indonesia's Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (ICACEPA) is believed to open up significant opportunities for various important sectors, one of which is the increase in the tourism sector.

Regarding the potential increase in the tourism sector, Spokesperson for the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy Haryo Limanseto said that the strategic agreement is believed to provide a chain boost for the national economy, with increased trade transactions of goods and services and growing business and investment opportunities.

According to him, the simultaneous ease of access to markets and investment flows from Europe and Canada will also increase foreign tourist visits due to the rise of business and trade visits, so that it is hoped that it will be able to strengthen Indonesia's position as a leading tourism destination in the region.

He said that these two agreements were not only an important milestone in strengthening economic cooperation, but would also pave the wider road for the development of the Indonesian tourism sector.

"Of course it will have a positive impact not only on increasing the number of tourists, but will also encourage investment and new business opportunities," he said in his statement, quoted on Sunday, October 5.

In line with this, Secretary General of the DPP Association of the Indonesian Tours & Travel Agencies (ASITA) Budi Ardiansjah assessed that the various facilities resulting from the agreement, including the implementation of Visa Cascade by the European Union which allows Visa Scheng holders who have obtained prior permits to get a validity period of up to five years, will facilitate travel and businesses to Europe.

According to him, the ease of access will not only increase the interest of the Indonesian people to travel for tourism, but will also encourage the growth of cross-border business activities.

He added that with the opening of travel opportunities, Indonesian business actors can more freely establish networks, hold business meetings, and open up the potential for new cooperation with partners in Europe.

Budi also hopes that similar facilities can be obtained from Canada so that it can increase the visit of the two countries. In addition, it is important to emphasize the principle of resipulation so that the convenience provided by Indonesia to major trading partners can be balanced with similar policies.

He conveyed that the application of the resipprocal principle is expected to encourage an increase in the flow of foreign tourists to Indonesia, both for tourism, business, and investment purposes.

"Thus I believe that departing from tourism will then create big other things. It is undeniable that most of the investments come after investors travel on tour first. Usually they come in, they are amazed by the beauty of Indonesia, and realize there are opportunities in Indonesia, then they invest," he explained.

Furthermore, he conveyed that the effectiveness of the implementation of the two agreements was not only determined by government policies, but also through close collaboration with Indonesian tourism business actors, as well as business partners in Europe and Canada.

According to him, this collaboration is expected to be able to expand networks, strengthen promotions, and present new investment opportunities in various Indonesian tourist destinations.

Thus, Budi conveyed that the benefits of the IEU'CEPA and ICA'CEPA can be felt optimally and can directly target tourism business actors in Indonesia.

"We hope that we will be involved more. Especially later there will be a kind of meeting between tourism business actors in countries like our country. This must be brought together. So it can be done through tabletop or business matching and as much as can be done. So that is one way to bring it closer between us. call it business to business. So business to business must be done so that the opportunities that have been opened can be felt immediately, "concluded Budi.