Indonesia a country with the largest Muslim population in the world is one with a low GDP compared to many of the small but developed western countries and even some of her neighbors.
Foreign domestic investment in tourism will not develop a large tax base. The beneficiaries will be the tourists.
If the government in Jakarta borrows money from UN organizations like the World Bank, for investment in infrastructure, they will have to repay the loan and the only way is if there is a large tax base that will benefit from the investment. If the investment is limited to transportation and lodging for tourists, the government will not be able to generate enough revenues. The planned new airport is not likely to justify huge hard currency borrowings.
When you drive through Ampenan or Mataram, you can see lot of High School kids in uniform. However, I suspect most of the children among the three million residents of Lombok, live in rural areas with no access to High Schools.
Some 40 years ago in the state where I was born in India, the state government (comparable to Nusa Tenga Barat) introduced a “mid-day meals scheme” for the poor children. Initially the state was able to provide rice and lentils. Then they could afford one egg per week and soon thereafter managed to provide eggs every day.
All the poor children managed to complete at least High School. The standard of education also improved because the state recognized the future potential. Now a poor villager will take a short term bank loan to educate his daughter/son to become an IT engineer. Loan repayment burden thus shifts from the parent to the next generation. This is a dramatic change compared to the past because in the olden days, the villager will sacrifice meager savings for paying the dowry for the daughter.
If I were the Governor of NTB in Lombok, I will think long term and start paying attention to the human capital in Lombok. Lombok children need to have solid High School education and receive additional training to qualify for higher paying jobs.
There could be an immediate argument that there are no higher paying jobs in Lombok. Some of the trained students can learn to invest in the local resources. Instead of exporting cheap labor that is often abused in neighboring countries, they can export agricultural products that are in heavy demand outside (e.g. raising strawberries in higher elevations near Rinjani, bell pepper in the plains etc.).
Once there is a large base of skilled people, they can earn higher wages and pay taxes also. Once educated, their awareness of the linkage between wealth and rule-observing citizens, can also improve. Lombok administration should invest in the human capital
Josi