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Jokowi, Duterte to launch Indonesian-Philippines sea route
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President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and First Lady Iriana arrive in Manila on Friday to attend the 30th ASEAN Summit. (Courtesy of the Presidential Office/File)
P
resident Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and First Lady Iriana Joko Widodo departed for the Philippines on Friday to attend the 30th ASEAN Summit.
At the event, Jokowi and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte were set to launch the Davao-General Santos-Bitung Roll-On/Roll-Off (Ro-Ro) sea route.
Read also: RI, PH up ante on counterterrorism, trade
Indonesia’s tourism industry hopes the new route will make it easier for Filipinos to visit.
In parallel to the opening of the route, Tourism Minister Arief Yahya has prepared a Davao City-Manado flight route. “This is to catch up on the targeted number of 15 million foreign tourists in 2017, which we are currently still 2 million short of,” explained Arief.
Read also: Chinese nationals account for most foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia
From the Philippines, both Jokowi and Iriana were set to depart for Hong Kong to discuss economic cooperation.
In 2016, Hong Kong invested US$2.25 billion in Indonesia, marking a 225 percent increase from the previous year.
Jokowi is also expected to seize the opportunity to urge Hong Kong authorities to protect the rights of the 172,000 Indonesians who work in Hong Kong. (kes)
