The Indonesia Event Industry Council (Ivendo) said that without understanding from their clients and business partners, as well as the government most of the event organizers could shut their businesses as they would be unable to cope with the situation, which got worse from day to day.

In a statement issued on March 16, the association’s chairman Mulkan Kamaluddin appealed to their clients to pay their financial obligations for events that have been suspended or those that might be unilaterally postponed or canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The association also appealed to the government to provide fiscal incentives such as tax relief and delays in the payment of premiums to the Health Care and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan).

The association also asked for understanding from business partners such as hotels, revenue providers and transportation companies, including airlines, regarding their financial difficulties. The association asked them to find a win-win solution to enable its members to settle their financial obligations.

“We also ask the government to encourage state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and other government agencies which have used the services of the organizers to accelerate the payment of their dues to enable us to survive,” Mulkan in the statement.

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Jakarta and other provincial administrations in the country have called for the suspension of large gatherings such as exhibitions, conferences and other business events to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

In addition to the provincial governments, the Transportation and Creative Economy ministries have also urged the postponement of business events in the country following President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s call for all citizens to practice social distancing.

“We also urge tourism and creative economy players not to organize events and exhibitions until the COVID-19 pandemic can be contained,” Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Wishnutama Kusubandio said recently.

The secretary general of Ivendo, Harry D Nugraha, who is also the founder of event management company Ego Global Network told The Jakarta Post on Thursday that more than 90 percent of events scheduled for March were postponed or canceled.

"If there is no event, there is no income," Harry told the Post.

On its official statement, Ivendo indicated that event organizers would follow and obey the government’s instructions. It also expressed understanding regarding the circumstances.

Ivendo conducted a survey recently involving 112 respondents comprising event organizers, planners, promoters and tour operators. The survey aimed to find out the number of events being postponed or canceled due to COVID-19.

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Some 34.82 percent of respondents said they had postponed between four and six events until the end of 2020. Meanwhile, 9.82 percent of respondents said they had postponed 13 to 15 events until the end of the year.

The same survey also indicates that 6.25 percent of respondents have canceled between 13 and 15 events until the end of 2020.

Ivendo projects that total potential losses suffered by event organizers in Indonesia as a result of the postponements and cancelations could amount to between Rp 898.2 billion and Rp 2.65 trillion with the assumption that there are 1,218 companies engaged in the event-organizing business.