Chairman of the National Committee for the Annual Meeting of the IMF-World Bank Group 2018 Susiwijono Moegiarso said Lombok was one of the tourist destinations to be visited by the delegates.
In addition, Lombok is one of the parking places for aircraft carrying the delegations to the big meeting as Denpasar's airport of Ngurah Rai would not be able to accommodate all of the aircraft used by the delegations, Susiwijono said here on Monday.
"With the condition in Lombok, we have to make Banyuwangi ready to accommodate more aircraft. We have to make some adjustments in the plan in the fields," Susiwijono said.
It was planned that a number of areas around Bali including Lombok, Banyuwangi, and Makassar were to function to help provide parking places for the aircraft of the delegations to take part in the annual IMF-World Bank meeting.
Between 12,000 to 15,000 people are expected to attend the Annual Meetings, including about 3,500 delegates from 189 member countries, roughly 1,000 media representatives, and more than 5,000 participants representing the private sector, the banking community, academic institutions, civil society organizations, and also observers and parliamentarians.
Susiwijono said the Indonesian government has continued to keep communications with IMF and the World Bank on condition and progress in the preparations especially after the succession of earthquakes hitting Lombok.
"They still have confidence in our preparations," he said.
He said the National Committee also coordinates with the Center of Volcanology and Geology Disaster Mitigation (PVMBG) of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry and the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) in observation of the earthquakes.
In addition, the quakes seem to shift eastward, therefore, there is no plan to move the venue of the meeting from Nusa Dua Bali, Susiwijono said.
"There is no plan at all to change venue of the meeting. The IMF-World Bank meeting would still be held as scheduled," he said.
Even in the original plan, the government already prepared anticipatory steps and evacuation in the event of unexpected occurrence such as earthquake or terrorism, he said.
"We have no plan to hold the meeting in other places. We are confident Nusa Dua is safe," he added.
The IMF-World Bank Group (WBG) Annual Meeting is held to discuss the work of their respective institutions. In addition to a plenary meeting of the Boards of Governors, the Development Committee (DC) and the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) are convened as part of the Annual Meeting. The DC and IMFC advise the Boards of Governors on global financial and economic development issues, including global economic outlook, poverty eradication, and aid effectiveness.
Around the meetings, the IMF and WBG organize a number of fora to facilitate the interaction of governments and IMF-WBG staff with civil society organizations, journalists, private sector executives, academics and representatives of other international organizations.
Indonesia hopes to gain from the big meeting to promote its tourism objects.
Reporting by Ade Irma Junida
Editing by A. Saragih
Reporter: Antara
Editor: Sri Haryati
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
