REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Several countries, including Indonesia, have expressed concern over securing tourist destinations from the threat of terrorism, Coordinating Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto stated here, Tuesday.

Hence, the Indonesian government supports the "Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Workshop on Strengthening Tourism Business Resilience against the impact of Terrorist Attack" being held in Nusa Dua on May 9-10, 2017, as part of the formulation of a cooperation strategy to secure tourist destinations from any threat.

The attacks on tourist destinations as "soft targets" for terrorist networks have become a new phenomenon.

Indonesia, in this case, has the experience of restoring its tourism industry after the terrorist bombings in Bali back in 2002 and 2005 that killed several domestic and foreign tourists.

"We will try to share our experiences on how we revived our tourism industry that had died due to the acts of terrorism," Wiranto stated.

Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika also noted that his province had learnt harsh lessons from the two bombing incidents that shook the tourism and economy of Bali and Indonesia.

According to Pastika, Bali was safe and peaceful until it suddenly became a soft target for terrorists, and this should serve as an eye-opener that terrorism is a dreadful attack that could strike anytime and anywhere and could threaten tourism globally.

"Hence, it is crucial to have institutions that prevent and fight terrorism as well as build strong cooperation with other international and interstate institutions," he noted on the occasion.

In addition to Indonesia, as the host country, the APEC workshop was attended by other APEC Counter-Terrorism Working Group members, such as Australia, Chile, Canada, China, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Taiwan, the US, New Zealand, Thailand, and Vietnam. 

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