Study tour Indonesia 2007

The Role of Religion in Economic Development in Lombok

The Role of Religion in Economic Development in Lombok,

by Drs. Lalu Fathurrahman.
Mr. Fathurrahman is the Head of the Provincial Planning Board, Bappeda.

The first thing he did was to show us a complicated formula which explained different factors in both supply and demand side in relation to economic growth. His intention with showing us this formula was to emphasize that religion actually is a component in mathematics formula for economic growth. What the analyses could tell us, was that religion influence its adherents in their life included economic matters. Development is mainly constituted by increasing components of economic matters such as capital inputs and export earnings. However, the conclusion was ‘the religion has played a role in supporting Lombok economic development’.

Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage, is an illustration of relations between religion and economy. The Indonesian government actually has a monopoly on the pilgrimage, something which is considered a problem with a view to economic development in Lombok. If you want to go to Mecca you must pay the government a certain amount of money and they will organize and take care of everything. However, the problem is that disproportionate big amounts of money disappear out of Lombok instead of contributing to economic development in the region. Even though he emphasized the importance of religion in economic growth, he made it very clear that religion does not play any role in politics.

Tourism is another activity which needs to be mentioned when we talk about economic development on Lombok. Early in the 1980s there were only 8000 tourists visiting Lombok every year, whereas during the 1990s this number increased till about 300 000 foreign visitors annually. Because of the economic crisis and riots that hit Indonesia from 1997, the number of tourists per year is now around 70 000. The riot on Lombok in 2000 and the Bali bombings in 2002 and 2005 contributed to this reduction.

Today it is an ongoing discussion about the big tourism potential in Lombok and how tourism affects the local culture. Some people look upon western tourists as a threat to the local culture. In fact they are afraid and worried that tourists from the west, with their low moral when it comes to dress code, sex and alcohol, will have a bad influence on the local Muslim population. On the other side they still want to expand the business because they are completely aware of how tourism can contribute to economic development. Because of this they try to create something called ‘tourist pockets’. The idea is to create enclosures to prevent the western tourists to socialize with the local people and weaken their moral.