Wonogiri (ANTARA) - Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno met with a community that promotes the creative economy sector in Wonogiri District, Central Java Province, on Friday.

On the occasion, the minister remarked that Indonesia's creative economy sector had become the world's third-best in terms of contribution to the national gross domestic product (GDP), after the United States and South Korea.

"Our creative economy is a real deal since it has occupied the top-three position in the world. The United States, with its Hollywood, is still enjoying the top position, while South Korea has been trailing in the second position, with its drama series and movies," he remarked.

The minister noted that Indonesia's creative economy has contributed as much as eight percent to the country's total GDP, adding that the Southeast Asian country has been known as a producer of extremely thrilling horror movies.

He also spoke of Indonesia's dangdut koplo music having made a mark with the Turkish audiences.

"Earlier, I found out that dangdut koplo had reached Turkey," he told the community members.

Minister Uno then stated that Indonesia's tourism sector has managed to prevail over that of several neighboring countries, such as Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

"Unfortunately, a large number of our people are still opting for other countries as tourism destinations. In fact, Indonesia has numerous more enchanting tourism destinations, including Wonogiri," he pointed out.

Moreover, Wonogiri has been registered as part of a series of tourism activities of the Borobudur Temple Super Priority Tourism Destination, he stated.

Furthermore, he remarked that the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry had decided to make efforts to highlight several typical creative economy products of Wonogiri.

"We can see that products of culinary and fashion sub-sectors are worthy of being highlighted as featured economy products," he noted.

In that context, Head of Wonogiri District Joko Sutopo cited cashew nuts and empon-empon as examples for his region's featured products.

"The government will make all-out efforts to enable the people to seize the existing opportunities, including by providing them with permit services free of charge. This is part of the government's support for our business players," he remarked.

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Translator: Aris W, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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