DENPASAR - Governor of Bali Wayan Koster received a working visit from the Australian Ambassador to the Indonesian representative, Penny Williams PSM.
Ambassador Penny Williams who was accompanied by the Australian Consul General in Bali, Anthea Griffin admitted that she was very happy to visit Bali for the first time since she was appointed as the Australian Ambassador to Indonesia last September.
"I am very happy here, because Bali has strong ties to Australia. For me personally, Bali has beautiful memories from my childhood," said Penny in a written statement, Friday, November 19.
Penny hopes that the pandemic conditions will improve, then the relationship between Australia and Bali will continue to improve.
"I hope 2022 will be better and flights can be opened again, because the mobility of citizens in the two countries is very important to maintain the relationship that has been developed so far," she added.
According to her, currently, the Australian government is still very selective in opening flight doors. But the flight doors are slowly opening due to the COVID-19 situation.
Meanwhile, the Governor of Bali informed that the COVID-19 pandemic was in a sloping condition.
"We are working hard to deal with COVID-19. The daily new cases have been sloping and stable at single digits. Bali has also received full support from the central government, especially the President and the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs, so that Bali has entered an encouraging phase. many of them are positive, those who die are also much lower and more often at 0," she said.
Koster also believes that the vaccination program that has been accelerated until now has exceeded the target, which is the main factor in the decline in COVID-19 cases in Bali.
"I believe this is the result of high vaccination rates, so herd immunity has been established," he said.
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From the latest data, the percentage of injecting the first dose of vaccine in Bali has reached 108 percent. Meanwhile, the second dose of vaccination has reached 88 percent. This figure includes residents outside Bali and foreign citizens (WNA).
However, Koster still believes that the implementation of health protocols (prokes) in Bali is well maintained in the midst of normal community activities.
"Activities have started to normal, but the prokes are still tight. Thank God the Balinese are very disciplined, now according to a survey from the Ministry of Health, more than 98 percent of the people still wear masks," said Koster.
In addition, Koster said that Bali's readiness to receive tourists or guests from abroad is also supported by the preparation of the Island of the Gods which will host the G20 High-Level Conference (KTT) which will take place in 2022.
"Therefore, according to the president's direction, we will continue to maintain this good condition with the governance, management, and operations that we have prepared. I think Bali is very ready," he said.
Koster also mentioned the close relationship between Australia and Bali which has been well established. Both from a historical and psychological perspective, especially related to the tourism sector.
"Australia certainly cannot be separated from Bali tourism, psychologically Bali and Australia are very close," he said.
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