Introductory Remarks of President Joko Widodo during Limited Cabinet Meeting on the Development of Lake Toba as a Tourist Destination, at Niagara Hotel, Parapat Village, North Sumatera, Tuesday, 1 March 2016
Unofficial English Translation
AssalamuÂ’alaikum warrahmatullahi wabarakaatuh,
Good afternoon,
May prosperity be upon us all,
Coordinating Minister, Ministers, Regional Millitary Commander, Regional Chief Police, Acting Governor, and all Regents who are here among us today,
Today, I would like to follow up my previous working visit and a meeting at the Palace last month with a finalization. Therefore, there will be no more meetings with me after this. The implementation should be ensured and I am very pleased that the Governor, all the Regents, and everyone involved are united in harmony in order to prepare Lake Toba as our priority tourist destination.
I would like to invite the Regents, Governor, or Ministers to present the problems and its solutions later. I have acknowledged the problems during the limited meeting at the Palace, but I have not heard about the solutions. Then, I can immediately instruct the related ministers to take actions. For example, Silangit Airport. I have instructed them to renovate the terminal, expand and extend the runway so that Boeing airplanes can use it. Additionally, at the end of March, I insist that there should be three Garuda flights to Lake Toba.
We do hope that the runway extension and the terminal renovation will be completed no later than the end of this year. PT. Angkasa Pura has promised that it will be completed in September. Nevertheless, I give them extra time to complete it until the end of the year.
Indeed, we want to work fast because we are going to rebrand Lake Toba. Differentiation and positioning strategies may be needed, everything will be rebuilt again. The promotion, packaging, everything will be evaluated to do the rebranding. So, we do hope that Lake Toba will be a well-deserved tourist destination and worth a visit, not only attracts domestic tourists, but also international tourists.
This is my introductory remarks. I would like to invite the Ministers, the Governor, or the Regents to deliver their remarks.(Humas Setkab) (AW/YM/Naster)