Erick Thohir: England Will Build Health Tourism In Bali Or Sumatra

Minister of BUMN, Erick Thohir. (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - BUMN Minister Erick Thohir said that the exploration of cooperation with the UK covering four things, namely health tourism , education, renewable energy, and the defense industry must be mutually beneficial.

"There are four things that we certainly cooperate with the UK, but of course, as stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Retno Marsudi, it is very important to have a win-win solution ," said Erick Thohir as quoted by Antara , Thursday, October 15.

According to Erick Thohir, if Britain saw Indonesia as a friendly country, of course Indonesia's trade had to be helped and supported. It is the same when Indonesia invited them to become partners.

During his visit to London, he and the Foreign Minister met with several partners in the country, both from the government and the private sector.

"There are four things that we are exploring, first regarding health tourism which we open up opportunities, especially with the ease with which we state-owned companies can get facilities from the Special Economic Zones. Later we will see whether the possibility is in Bali or Sumatra. We want to ensure Indonesia's opportunity to become a regional health industry player, "said Erick Thohir.

Erick Thohir said that with trusted health facilities in Indonesia, Indonesians who previously went to Singapore or Malaysia for treatment would choose to go to trusted health facilities in the country. This is what is being explored by Indonesia and Britain.

For educational cooperation, he said, how would it be possible for Indonesia to cooperate with the UK to improve the education industry, particularly in the hotel and restaurant sector.

"We see that there are several locations like the one in Mandalika and others, this is the place for the special economic zone that was previously mentioned," said Erick Thohir.

Erick Thohir visited England with Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi in order to carry out a number of activities, one of which was a meeting with the producer of the COVID-19 vaccine candidate, Astra Zeneca, which was followed up by signing a Letter of Intent (LoI) between Astra Zeneca and the Ministry of Health.

During the visit, Erick Thohir and the Foreign Minister were accompanied by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) Untung Suseno Sutarjo and Deputy Minister of BUMN I Budi Gunadi Sadikin.