Bali Deputy Governor Welcomes Good Policy Work From Bali Ideas of the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment

DENPASAR - Bali Deputy Governor Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati or Cok Ace supports the policy of the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Kemenko Marves) which encourages the Work From Bali (WFB) program.

"WFB has actually been one of the tourism trends to Bali from before the COVID-19 pandemic", said Cok Ace, when confirmed Friday, May 21.

According to him, Bali was chosen as the place for the WFB program because of the location of Bali which is easy to reach.

"The demographic condition of Balinese people are safe, friendly, and adaptive to adequate facilities and relatively cheap prices", he said.

"But so far the trend (WFB) has not been managed well. Therefore, the government supports the WFB program. Because it will have a positive impact on economic growth in Bali", said Cok Ace.

The Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment revealed the reasons behind the Work From Bali (WFB) policy for the state civil apparatus for seven ministries/institutions under its coordination.

Deputy for Tourism Coordination and Creative Economy Of Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Odo R.M. Manuhutu, said the launch of the WFB program was implemented to increase the confidence of domestic tourists to restore the local economy. This increase in domestic public confidence is expected to create a multiplier effect that helps restore the local economy.

"Every single rupiah spent on official travel to the region, including Bali, will provide a multiplier effect (direct, indirect, or induction impact) for the local economy", he was quoted as saying by Antara, Thursday, May 20.

Bali is one of the provinces that have experienced significant impacts due to the COVID-19 pandemic because the Island of the Gods has been based on the tourism sector. These conditions caused Bali's economic growth to plummet to minus 9 percent.

"The occupancy rate of hotels in Bali is only 10 percent in 14 months, this has had a significant economic impact", he added.

Odo said WFB policy had also been carried out by the central government in 2000 after the Bali bombings. According to him, the policy was also not taken haphazardly and without considering other factors.

The government, he said, has allocated a social assistance budget for the community during this pandemic amounting to IDR 100 trillion.

"So it is not true that the government is only focusing the cost of state civil apparatus official travel to revive the tourism sector without considering the social needs of the community in general", said Odo.