Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Ministry of Villages and Development of Disadvantaged Regions is collaborating with the Ministry of Tourism to accelerate the strengthening of tourist villages throughout Indonesia.”We'll work on this together. This concept must be easily implemented by villages, despite their limitations,” said Deputy Village Minister Ahmad Riza Patria during a meeting with Deputy Tourism Minister Ni Luh Puspa, here on Thursday.”We've created written and visual guidelines to make them easy to understand, including a budget plan to help the village community navigate the process. We'll then find the funding,” he added.Patria explained that the concept and syllabus related to this matter would be developed using a map of each village's potential so that cooperation between the two ministries could be effective and efficient.He further stated that strengthening tourist villages is crucial for the country's further progress.He said this sector can accelerate development because Indonesia possesses significant resources, particularly the natural beauty of nearly every province.”One of the nation's development priorities is the food sector, but tourism is also crucial. If Indonesia wants to progress, those two sectors are paramount,” said Patria.He continued that in the future, this collaboration will be implemented without neglecting the role of village facilitators who collaborate with Tourism Awareness Groups (Pokdarwis) and private companies with extensive business experience.In addition, Patria also said that the advancement of social media is also being utilized so that the strengthening of tourist villages is wider, not only in one region, but even to the international level.Currently, there are 6,189 tourist villages across Indonesia. However, the condition of these villages remains concerning.As many as 78.2 percent of them are still classified as pioneering tourist villages, 16.11 percent are in a developing condition, 5.14 percent are advanced, and only 0.5 percent of the total tourist villages have independent status.This situation is concerning for Deputy Minister of Tourism Ni Luh Puspa. Therefore, she has partnered with the Ministry of Villages and Development of Disadvantaged Regions to accelerate the development of this tourist village.”This year, we will create a roadmap for the creation of tourist villages, so that the development of tourist villages can run optimally and more focused, not only for tourist attractions but also for MSMEs, homestays, and many other related parties,” she said.”This requires assistance and strengthening of infrastructure facilities,” she added.