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Manado International Conference on Tourism secures $400 million in deals
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A woman snorkels in North Sulawesi waters. (Shutterstock/-)
The Manado International Conference on Tourism (MICT), held on May 24, resulted in US$400 million worth of business deals.
The deals consist of a $200 million investment deal with China for the development of a hotel, apartment, shopping mall and diving center in South Manado, and another $200 million deal with the United States for cottage accommodation and tourism in Raja Ampat, West Papua.
Read also: Saving Raja Ampat waters with tourism
A deal was also made between Dalian Maritime University in China and five Indonesian universities, namely the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Sam Ratulangi University, Manado State Polytechnic, Hasanuddin University and Manado State University.
“These two business deals and one academic-related deal show the government’s effort to increase investments in tourism and maritime sectors,” said Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) chairman Thomas Lembong.
A one-on-one meeting was also conducted with 37 companies from China, Japan, Singapore, Australia, United Arab Emirates, South Korea and seven embassy representatives, as well as foreign business associates from China, Thailand, Australia and Japan.
Read also: Manado outshines major tourist destinations
“In the one-on-one meeting, they met directly with provincial administrations and companies for discussions on investment,” Thomas added.
North Sulawesi Governor Olly Dondokambey said the average of economic growth in North Sulawesi increased to 6.5 percent from 2010 to 2016.
Based on data collected from the BKPM, foreign direct investment (FDI) in tourism increases every year. The number went from $673.1 million in 2014 to $732.5 million in 2015. It further increased by 63 percent to $1.9 billion in 2016, and in the first quarter of 2017 FDI has so far reached $440 million. (kes)
