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esides giving the resort island massive international exposure, the upcoming APEC Summit is also expected to give the island'€™s economic growth a significant boost.

'€œThe summit is playing a major role in driving the island'€™s economy this year. It is certainly improving our economic performance,'€ provincial Economy and Development Agency head Gede Suarjana said.

The island is forecast to enjoy a robust 6.81 percent economic growth this year, higher than the 6.6 percent growth recorded in 2012.

The summit preparations, he pointed out, had seen the central government pour a huge sum of money into infrastructure improvements, which in turn, created more job opportunities and increased demand for construction materials.

The expensive projects include the Dewa Ruci underpass '€” which cost Rp 148 billion (US$13.3 million) from the state budget '€” and started operation in May this year. The island'€™s airport is also being renovated and expanded at a cost of Rp 2.8 trillion, and the Benoa'€“Ngurah Rai'€“Nusa Dua toll road has been built at a cost of Rp 2.5 trillion.

'€œAll the projects have increased our investment and driven our economic growth,'€ he said.

The summit is expected to be attended by as many as 21 heads of state and government, 46 ministers, 5,250 economic leaders and around 3,000 journalists from across the world. Prior to the summit, 182 preliminary meetings involving around 100,000 delegates are also to be held here.

The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry estimated that around 30,000 hotel rooms and 3,000 vehicles would be used during the summit. These numbers did not take into account the rooms and vehicles used in the preliminary APEC meetings and other APEC-related events.

'€œThe APEC Summit will obviously make our cash flow positive. Consumption rates will increase significantly as many delegates will spend their money while in Bali. And at the end, I am confident that it will increase the per capita income of Bali'€™s residents and positively contribute to Gross Domestic Regional Product (PDRB) in the province,'€ Suarjana declared.

Tourism has become Bali'€™s economic backbone. Until the second quarter of 2013, Suarjana said, tourism'€™s contribution to the island'€™s gross domestic regional product reached 29 percent, far higher than 16 percent recorded by the agricultural sector.

A recent survey conducted by Bank Indonesia involving 1,000 respondents, revealed that average foreign tourist spending had increased to $150.23 per person per day (excluding airfares) to the second quarter of 2013, up from $144.40 in the same period last year. Meanwhile, domestic tourists spent around Rp 635,000 on average per day.

Suarjana was optimistic that the island would book 6.81 percent economic growth by the end of this year.

As of the second quarter of 2013, the provincial administration had recorded economic growth of 6.65 percent. To reach 6.81 percent economic growth, Suarjana said, Bali needed at least Rp 24 trillion in investment until the end of this year.