JAKARTA (THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Indonesian President Joko Widodo is seeking to speed up the development of four priority tourist destinations across the country, as part of his administration's efforts to boost the country's tourism industry.

The four priorities are Borobudur temple in Magelang, Central Java; Lake Toba in North Sumatra; Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara; and Mandalika tourist area in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.

Mr Joko, who led a Cabinet meeting discussing the issue on Thursday (Aug 29), said tourism made a huge contribution to improve the economy of both local administrations and the central government.

"Therefore we need to continue efforts to accelerate the development of the four tourist destinations," Mr Joko, popularly known as Jokowi, said as quoted by Antara news agency.

The President said the development for the Borobudur temple complex was particularly important as the construction of the Yogyakarta International Airport - which was expected to bring more international tourists to the region - was slated to finish by 2020.

He went on to call for officials to speed up the construction of roads connecting the new airport in Kulon Progo, Yogyakarta, to Borobudur temple.

"We have to immediately finish the master plan for the development of (Borobudur) as well as set zones and spatial (planning)," Mr Joko said, "I see that the progress is still slow."