"The establishment of the prospective special zone will help stimulate the publishing industry," he remarked after distributing packages of sacrificial meat at the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry Office, Jakarta, on Wednesday.
Uno further spoke of his plan to integrate the Kwitang tourism literacy special zone with a nearby halal tourism zone, with the aim of simultaneously boosting Indonesia's Muslim-friendly tourism.
The minister clarified that the limited number of international book exhibitions held in Indonesia indicated a decline in publishing industry sales, which prompted the proposal to establish the tourism literacy zone.
He deemed it necessary to take action against the trend, considering the industry's critical role in the advancement of the country's creative economy sector.
"Many successful films playing on Netflix or in cinemas are based on successful literature, such as novels or scripts, which are part of the publishing industry," he underlined.
In addition to transforming the Kwitang Book Market, he highlighted that the government will also facilitate actors in the publishing industry to take part in digital transformation in a bid to bolster the Indonesian people's reading interest.
Earlier, Uno highlighted that the creative economy sector wields the potential to serve as the economic foundation needed in the nation's journey toward achieving the Golden Indonesia 2045 vision.
He attributed the statement to the fact that Indonesia's creative economy ranks third globally in terms of contribution to the national gross domestic product (GDP).
The minister underscored that the sector had contributed Rp1,300 trillion (around US$79 billion) to the GDP, with culinary, handcraft, and fashion emerging as the country's three most prominent sub-sectors.
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Translator: Ahmad M, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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