Minister Urges Exclusive Music Concert to Compete Singapore
- VIVA.co.id/Mohammad Yudha Prasetya
Singapore – Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan urged an exclusive music concert to compete with Singapore's exclusive deal with Taylor Swift.
"What Singapore offers to artists, we give to them. We must be brave to compete. If Singapore can get the benefits, we need to as well," Pandjaitan stated at the closing of Business Matching 2024 on Thursday, as reported by Antara site.
He remarked that a foreign artist will come to Indonesia six months from now after the entertainment management has secured the license to organize a music concert event.
He also called on those involved in the entertainment business to strike a deal with other artists and hold a competitive concert.
"One of the entertainment players has obtained the permit. I asked them to search for other artists and make a deal," the Minister remarked.
Minister Pandjaitan affirmed that the neighboring country's exclusive deal with Taylor Swift had significantly contributed to its foreign exchange. It also made the hotel occupancy full for nine days.
"For two weeks, we could not go to Singapore because there was a Taylor show there. The hotels were full for nine days. Why? Because she did not have a show in Indonesia," the minister stated.
Taylor Swift held the Eras World Tour in the Southeast Asian region, but the tour was only held in Singapore.
The concert in Singapore was held on March 2-4, 2024, and continued on March 7-9, 2024, and drew foreign tourists to watch the concert live in Singapore.
Earlier, Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno said he was impressed by how Japan had packaged international events, such as the Tokyo Olympics and Taylor Swift's concert.
He expressed optimism that Indonesia and Japan would share best practices and knowledge in tourism and connectivity.