Medan, 15 June 2022. North Sumatra's provincial government is prepared to make the Women's (W20) Summit a success, which will be held at the Niagara Parapat Hotel in Simalungun Regency on July 19-21, 2022.
The Governor of North Sumatra, Edy Rahmayadi, stated that the W20 Summit was a long-awaited moment where the Lake Toba area was in the spotlight from both national and international levels. Through this activity, it is hoped that it can stimulate tourism in North Sumatra and increase the Creative Economy in North Sumatra, especially Lake Toba.
The W20 Summit meeting on Lake Toba is also expected to prove that North Sumatra is ready to welcome the arrival of domestic and foreign tourists after the pandemic. In addition, Lake Toba has been designated as a Super Priority Tourism Destination and one of the Unesco Global Geoparks. Making North Sumatra a new icon of Indonesian tourism based on natural beauty. At the same time, we want to introduce North Sumatra to the world through the W20 Summit which brings delegates from G20 member countries.
Chair of W20 Indonesia, Hadriani Uli Silalahi, said that W20 Indonesia is a G20 engagement group that focuses on discussing women's empowerment and gender equality with the aim of forming recommendations to G20 leaders in a document called communique. "The W20 delegation has been conducting various integrated conversations with input from partners and women's organizations in Indonesia and other G20 nations for about seven months. At the W20 Summit, this communique will be handed over to the president. We're really looking forward to doing it on Lake Toba. We ask for support from all parties for the smooth running of the event later. I hope the delegates who come can feel the beauty of Lake Toba and the hospitality of Indonesia."
Meanwhile, the Co-Chair of W20 Indonesia, Dian Siswarini added that the W20 Summit in Lake Toba will discuss various priority issues of W20, especially regarding equality and discrimination, inclusive economy, to women-owned SMEs. In addition, there will also be discussions on issues related to increasing the access of women with disabilities and rural women to education, technology, finance, and health equality. All of them will be delivered into a series of policy dialogues and conferences. This agenda will be closed with the handing over of the W20 Communique to the President of the Republic of Indonesia as the leader of the G20 and also the announcement of the winners of the Incubation program for 1,000 Women MSMEs assisted by the 'W20 Sispreneur' with a total prize of Rp. 300 million in business capital as a concrete action from W20 Indonesia.
In addition, the Head of the Culture and Tourism Office of North Sumatra Province, Zumri Sulthony, said that the W20 big event is expected to open up tourism opportunities in the Lake Toba area. "This international event certainly opens up space and opportunities for Lake Toba related to sustainable tourism," he said. Zumri hopes that all parties involved will improve to give their best to support and succeed in this international activity, including the North Sumatra Provincial Government.
The W20 Summit will take place from 19-21 July 2022, at the Niagara Parapat Hotel, Simalungun Regency and at The Caldera Toba Nomadic Escape, Toba Regency, North Sumatra. "Through the W20 activity, which will be carried out in the Lake Toba area, it is hoped that it will generate the creative economy of SMEs and tourism, especially in the Lake Toba area," he added. To note, the W20 Summit is one of the special forums for the engagement of the G20 group that focuses on gender issues and the role of women in the world economic sector.
W20 was founded in 2014, with the inaugural conference taking place in Turkey in 2015. It was founded on the belief that women's participation in global economic development is important. The interests brought by the W20 are intersected with all G20 issues based on an agreement on the importance of increasing the role of women in an inclusive manner. Women's participation is very much needed in various engagement groups, be it Business20, Youth20, Parliament20, and so on.