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.
