"This hope is not only targeted at pilgrims from Indonesia but also from all countries in the world," he remarked after meeting with Hajj and Umrah Minister of Saudi Arabia Tawfiq Fawzan Al-Rabiah on the sidelines of the World Travel and Tourism Council in Riyadh, Arab Saudi, according to an official statement on Friday.
Currently, Saudi Arabia is aiming to reach 100 million tourist arrivals annually, supported by Hajj and Umrah pilgrimage activities.
Uno assessed that it becomes an opportunity for Indonesian creative economy products to be used by tourists.
"For this reason, our meeting, which is a follow-up to the meeting in Jakarta, becomes crucial," he said.
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According to Uno, the Saudi Arabian minister is seeking a comprehensive partnership wherein Indonesian food products are not only consumed by pilgrims from Indonesia but also those from other countries.
"(Hopefully,) fashion products can also become flagship products," he added.
In Indonesia, the export of local creative economy products is supported by the fashion sub-sector by more than 66 percent.
He also encouraged several local souvenir products to be proposed for export to Saudi Arabia under a collaboration concept where there would be joint investment to open business and job opportunities as vast as possible.
"We will follow up this very strategic meeting with several activities that encourage the opening of market opportunities, with our target to increase exports of creative economy products to above 20 percent in the next three to five years, so that we will reach a total target of US$30 billion," he remarked.
Uno further noted that the target is one of the triggers for the creation of 700 thousand new jobs in the creative economy sector in 2022.
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Translator: M Baqir, Raka Adji
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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