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Jokowi hopes MotoGP’s Mandalika circuit can boost Lombok’s popularity
The Mandalika street circuit will provide job opportunities for 7,500 people and boost local investment by US$150 million.
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President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (left) visits Kuta Mandalika beach in Mandalika Special Economic Zone (KEK), Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, on Friday. The visit was part of Indonesia’s preparations for hosting the MotoGP motorcycling race in 2021. (JP/Panca Nugraha)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo hopes that a MotoGP street circuit in the Mandalika Special Economic Zone (KEK) in Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara will help promote the area to become a favorite tourist destination.
“We really hope we will see a new economic spot [in Mandalika] that can support the country’s economic growth. We are really looking forward to Mandalika becoming a ‘new Bali’,” said the President during a visit to Kuta Mandalika beach in Central Lombok on Friday.
The “new Bali” refers to a new tourism destination that has a huge impact on the country, like Lombok’s neighboring island Bali.
Jokowi made Friday’s visit to supervise the progress of construction work on supporting facilities for the street circuit. Indonesia is set to host the MotoGP, the most popular motorcycle racing championship in the world, in Mandalika in 2021. The President was accompanied by Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono and West Nusa Tenggara Governor Zulkieflimansyah.
“I wanted to see the progress of Mandalika so far. The [ITDC] Indonesia Tourism Development Center chairman [Abdulbar M. Mansoer] has reported that the area already has at least seven hotels and three others that are under construction.
“It shows very good development,” said Jokowi.
The latest updates from the Mandalika project includes a runway expansion at the Lombok International Airport, land acquisition to provide access from the airport to the Mandalika zone as well as the settlement of a precise location for the circuit.
