THE PRACTICE OF INDONESIA’S ECONOMIC DIPLOMACY IN JAPAN THROUGH TOURISM PROMOTION ACTIVITIES (2015 – 2019)

Abstract

The economic diplomacy has been used to achieve the national interest, particularly economic security. The practice of economic diplomacy will be divers in each country. As the concept of economic diplomacy which separates the economic diplomacy into two instruments: business end and power-play end. These instruments then affect the entire application of the economic diplomacy of a state, which also includes the tools in its application. As the administration of President Joko Widodo’s begins, the tourism sector has been highlighted as one of the developed leading sectors. It is due to its contribution to the previous term and its potential to contribute to the Indonesian economic income. The tourism sector able to contribute to the GDP, foreign exchange earnings, create a job, and other contribution that affects the people’s welfare. That aligns with President Joko Widodo’s mission to realizing a prosperous quality of life of Indonesian people. Refer to the decision, this research aims to identify how the Indonesian government conducts its economic diplomacy through tourism promotion. By making Japan as the country target. By referring to the neoliberalism theory, soft power theory, and the concept of economic diplomacy, this research will analyze the conduct of Indonesia’s economic diplomacy through tourism promotion in Japan, under President Joko Widodo’s administration. This research found several findings after the identification. First, The Indonesian government utilizes tourism promotion as the tool of economic diplomacy to achieve the national interest. Second, the conduct of tourism promotion involved 2 actors: state and a non-state actor. Third, the conduct of Indonesia’s economic diplomacy through tourism promotion in Japan has been focused on 2 purposes: economic networking and advocacy and image branding in purpose to attract the Japanese tourist to Indonesia.