Danone Indonesia and the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy Promote the Potential of a Sustainable Tourism Village Through the Development of the Cibeusi Tourism Village, Subang

Cibeusi Tourism Village, Subang, West Java is a clear example of how the tourism economic potential and opportunities are aligned with environmental sustainability efforts.

Jakarta, April 7, 2023. Danone Indonesia, as one of the strategic partners of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of the Republic of Indonesia (Kemenparekraf), reiterated its commitment to supporting tourism development in Indonesia and environmental sustainability by promoting the development of the Cibeusi Tourism Village, Subang Regency, West Java. Today (7/4), Danone Indonesia’s representatives together with Sandiaga Uno, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy of the Republic of Indonesia, visited Cibeusi Tourism Village, Subang Regency, West Java.

This visit is part of the 2023 Indonesian Tourism Village Award (ADWI) activities initiated by Kemenparekraf. 2023 ADWI is a strategic program to encourage and support the potential of tourism villages in Indonesia, allowing them to become world-class, competitive, and sustainable tourist destinations. Danone Indonesia carries out cross-sector collaboration with the government, especially Kemenparekraf, to continuously make positive impacts on society and the environment.

Sandiaga Uno, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy of the Republic of Indonesia, said, “To ensure the success of the 2023 Indonesia Tourism Village Award, we have carried out the curation stage and announced the top 75 ADWI Tourism Villages of 2023. The result is based on a desk assessment of a total of 4,573 registered tourism villages with complete data. Today we visited one of the top 75 tourism villages, namely Cibeusi Village in Subang Regency, West Java, to directly witness its tourism potential and opportunities. Kemenparekraf believes that to optimize the potential of tourism villages like Cibeusi, cross-sector collaboration must be established, including with Danone Indonesia. We believe that Danone Indonesia’s commitment to assisting Kemenparekraf’s tourism village development program will drive the growth of the tourism sector and improve the national economy in the future.”

Cibeusi Village is located in Ciater Sub-district, Subang, West Java. Designated as a buffer, protected, and conservation area, Ciater sub-district, with an area of 1,200 hectares, must be maintained to protect its function as a recharge area for Cipunagara watershed. Since 2019, Danone Indonesia, in collaboration with Yayasan Javlec (Java Learning Center) Indonesia under the auspices of AQUA Subang’s CSR program, has conducted a variety of environmental conservation programs based on green economy by integrating institutional reinforcement; economic and social empowerment; education; and physical conservation efforts such as tree planting, construction of infiltration wells, biopores, and rorak (dead-end trenches). To date, 49,000 trees have been planted while 1,000 biopores, 75 infiltration wells, and 2,000 rorak have been constructed. In addition to preserving the environment, this effort will also prevent floods and landslides caused by high rainfall in the area throughout the year. Village spatial planning management is carried out to prevent land use change and to support sustainable environmental management.

Vera Galuh Sugijanto, Vice President General Secretary of Danone Indonesia, said, “Cibeusi Village, Subang, West Java as one of the chosen villages that will be developed into a tourism village has great economic potential owing to its environmental sustainability. Danone Indonesia is honored to support the 2023 ADWI program initiated by Kemenparekraf as it is in line with Danone Indonesia’s commitment, which is put forth in Danone Impact Journey, our sustainability strategy in promoting economic growth and community welfare as well as maintaining environmental sustainability.”

As part of the development program of Cibeusi Tourism Village, Danone Indonesia also carried out a community mentoring program through Cipta Asih Village-owned Enterprise (Bumdes) to improve the community’s economic growth. Danone Indonesia has supervised 75 members of the Giri Asih Forest Village Community Organization (LMDH) through capacity-building efforts up to 2023. Furthermore, Danone Indonesia also coordinated with PERHUTANI and cared for 10,000 coffee plants around the area. In addition, Danone Indonesia continued to supervise members of Kampung Madu Kelompok Sabanda Sariksa. It serves as a form of support for the facilities and infrastructure provision in developing MSMEs, with a total of up to 100 beneficiaries.

At the beginning of this year, Danone Indonesia signed a partnership with Kemenparekraf to support the development of 14 tourism villages in seven provinces in Indonesia, which consist of Lumban Bulbul Village in North Sumatra; Pancawati Village, Banceuy Customary Village, Pesanggrahan Village, and Cibeusi Village in West Java; Blederan Village and Tanjunganom Village in Central Java; Karangasem Village in Yogyakarta; Jatiarjo Village in East Java;  Glagah Linggah Village, Belok Sidan Village, and Bongkasa Pertiwi Village in Bali; as well as  Lihunu Village and Tumaluntung Village in North Sulawesi. Danone Indonesia’s range of support includes data and/or information utilization and exchange, facilities and infrastructure provision, mentoring and strengthening of governance, environmental and/or biodiversity preservation, and other cooperation activities that could support the community’s economic growth.

Vera Galuh added, “Through numerous sustainability initiatives, Danone Indonesia hopes to improve the skills and capabilities of the community who live around our operational area. With human resource growth and environmental preservation, Danone Indonesia is able to drive the economy of the area, thus helping to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that become the government’s targets.”