A Telkom representative symbolically handed over the company's assistance from its Sustainable Tourism Development program to the management of the Liang Ndara Tourism Village, West Manggarai.

Activities of local residents in Liang Ndara Tourism Village, West Manggarai.

Jakarta, 1 February 2023 - PT Telkom Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (Telkom) runs various development programs for villages and tourism as a form of its commitment to sustainable development to provide benefits to the economy, social, environment as well as law and governance. This social responsibility program includes achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for sustainable environmental development.

Telkom supports the development of independent villages by running the Sustainable Tourism Development program, which is aimed to develop a tourism concept with a sustainable impact on the environmental, social, cultural, local communities economy and visiting tourists. The program has been underway in various Indonesian tourist villages, including Timbuseng village in Gowa Regency. The village in Pattalassang sub district's flora and fauna resources has the potential to be developed as natural tourism sites. Taking this into account, Telkom and the Timbuseng village community have initiated to develop a bamboo forest in the village into Timbuseng Village Bamboo Ecotourism.

During the execution, villagers were divided into groups and Telkom provided them with various training on bamboo handicraft processing, aimed to empower local youth to produce valuable handicraft products and create business opportunities. Telkom also built supporting facilities such as bridges, culinary stalls, and photo spots to complement the Timbuseng Village Bamboo Ecotourism attractions. The establishment of an institution to manage Timbuseng Village Bamboo Ecotourism also generated local community and government's participation in its development.

Telkom's program was also applied in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara. Labuan Bajo is one of the five regions that President Joko Widodo designated as a priority tourist destination in Indonesia. There are 19 villages in Labuan Bajo and some of them are still classified as underdeveloped areas, including the village of Macang Tanggar. The village covers an area of 43.76 km square but it does not have adequate access to education and clean water and sanitation facilities. Telkom provided the village with assistance for school construction and clean water distribution. In 2022, Telkom provided assistance in the form of construction cattle pens using natural materials obtained from teak forests in the Macang Tanggar village area. To attract more tourists, the village also has an open paddock where tourists can mingle with and pet the farm animals.

Still in the Labuan Bajo area, Telkom since 2016 has participated in developing Cecer Tourism Village, Liang Dara. The village's main tourism asset, Riang Tana Tiwa Studio, which displays typical Manggarai cultural performances, requires many power sources for its preservation. To assist the preservation, Telkom has been providing assistance in the form of village infrastructure facilities, namely internet connection, clean water, proper sanitation for the community, to supporting facilities for tourist areas. The formation of a cultural tourism area and an agro-tourism area in Cecer Tourism Village, created various job opportunities for the community. The community is actively involved in managing a tourist village and they contribute in boosting the village's economy and revenue. Many villagers have established themselves in new jobs generated from the village development such as arts and culture performers, agro-garden managers, and local products craftsmen. 

The formation of a tourism village equipped with sustainable management by the community has become the main attraction for local and foreign tourists. The average number of tourist visits increased to 3,500 visitors per year, 54% foreign tourists and 46% domestic tourists. Thanks to these significant developments, Cecer Village in 2021 was named as a Sustainable Tourism Village by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy.

"Telkom's environmental and social development programs are carried out in full with more integrated and directed principles, and have measurable impacts so that the community can benefit from it. Telkom hopes that in the future continue to introduce problem resolution-oriented programs to develop other regions in Indonesia while still prioritizing the company's business approach," Telkom Community Development Center SGM Hery Susanto said.

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