On Thursday 31st of October, Saskia Tjokro (Head of ANGIN Impact) moderated a panel discussion on plenary 3: session 1 with the topic of “Empowering the Locals: Community-based Tourism”. In this session, the panelists participated were ANGIN’s invitees: Halida Hatta (Expertise Communication & Relations, INPEX, Tenun Tanimbar) and Arumi Bachsin (Head of Dekranasda, East Java Province). A day before, Matheus Siagian (Owner of Tree Group), an angel investor member of ANGIN also spoke on the 1000 Startup Digital panel with the topic of “Indonesia’s Blue Economy Ecosystem”.
Saskia emphasised the importance of three sectors collaboration (public sector, private sector, and locals) to ensure sustainability and inclusivity of ecotourism businesses. Halida exemplified the corporation’s role in developing Tenun Tanimbar, Ibu Arumi marked the roles of East Java government as a SAO (youth job centre) to accelerate the progress of craft product development by using the digital technology. Lastly, Muhammad from Rammang-Rammang Ecotourism Destination explained how it takes time to develop community-based ecotourism that balances conservation and economic growth.
In a different panel, Matheus Siagian highlighted the importance of gaining the right investors and mentors to ensure the sustainability of the business. Because of digital disruption, business model may change so people should be ready to adapt and reform its model, and be aware of the surrounding environment, especially for blue economy startups whose businesses directly connected to nature. He also mentioned that ANGIN helps him to be a better investor, find matching startups that he can leverage his knowledge and network to gain collective impact and sustainability
