The increasingly popular tourist resort town of Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara may serve as the Indonesian hub for international summits in the future.
Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan, who is scheduled to visit Labuan Bajo tomorrow, says the government is looking into the possibility of the picturesque fishing town hosting the G-20 Meeting or Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in the coming years.
“I want to see [Labuan Bajo], as per the president’s instruction. We are hoping that it can be the location for APEC or G-20 Meeting,” Luhut said.
As reported by state news agency Antara, Indonesia is seeking to host the G-20 Summit in 2023 and APEC Summit in 2024. Nothing is confirmed as of yet, and it seems that Indonesia is still going through the bidding process.
The Southeast Asian country is going to host the 2021 U-20 (Under 20) World Cup, after successfully hosting the Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang as well as the IMF-World Bank annual meeting just last year.
The choice of Labuan Bajo — dubbed the “new Bali” — is in line with the government’s tourism ambitions, as the fishing town has been designated as one of 10 priority tourist destinations in the archipelago.
According to data from Labuan Bajo Flores tourism authority at the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry, more than 160,000 tourists visited Labuan Bajo up until September of this year.
