Burj Khalifa Owner Convinces Prabowo Indonesian Tourism Can Grow 300 Percent

Defense Minister and Elected President Prabowo Subianto escorted investors from the United Arab Emirates who are also owners of Burj Khalifa Mohamed Alabbar (left) and SOE Minister Erick Thohir/ANTARA/Genta Tenri Mawangi.

JAKARTA - Tycoon from the United Arab Emirates who is also the owner of Burj Khalifa, Mohamed Ali Rashed Alabbar, assured President-elect Prabowo Subianto that the Indonesian tourism sector could grow by around 200 to 300 percent.

Prabowo, who is currently the Minister of Defense, received visits from Alabbar and SOE Minister Erick Thohir at the Ministry of Defense Office, Jakarta, Monday, May 27.

During the meeting in his office, Prabowo and his two guests discussed for about an hour discussing the tourism industry in Indonesia.

"He believes (tourism) we can rise 200 to 300 percent. This is very important, it is very good for economic growth, to create jobs. Our area is very wide. We can open new areas to accelerate growth, improve our welfare," Prabowo said as quoted by ANTARA.

Prabowo continued in his meeting with Alabbar and ErickThohir, the tycoon from the United Arab Emirates also expressed his interest in investing in Indonesia.

"He (Alabbar, red) has hundreds of hotels everywhere and he is very enthusiastic about Indonesia. He conveyed a very great desire to enter Indonesia, to build our tourism. He is very confident that our tourism can increase tremendously," said Prabowo.

Alabbar, according to Prabowo, is optimistic that Indonesia can still attract more tourists because Thailand, a country with a smaller area than Indonesia, is able to attract more than 40 million foreign tourists every year, while Indonesia arrivals around 10 million to 11 million foreign tourists per year.

"I think that's what's important. I also learned a lot from him. This is also something good for us," said Prabowo.

Alabbar also said that Indonesia is one of the countries that is considered promising for investment, apart from India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and China.

"They see that this is a good condition, among others, that the Indonesian people are very friendly, he said that," Prabowo said, telling the contents of his meeting with Alabbar and Erick Thohir.

Alabbar arrived in Indonesia since last weekend. He was invited by SOE Minister, Erick Thohir, to tour a number of tourism areas, such as Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara, Mandalika in West Nusa Tenggara, Bali, and the capital city of Nusantara (IKN) in East Kalimantan.

In Jakarta, Erick also invited Alabbar to tour Terminal 3 of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. Meanwhile, at IKN, Erick showcased the progress of the development of Indonesia's future capital city.

Erick Thohir in his official Instagram account said that IKN, apart from being the center of government, will also become a financial and business area, as well as a tourism area as a supporter.