The festival is aimed at promoting Lombok as an international class pearl producer, the tourism and culture ministry said in a press statement here Friday.
"The festival is expected to encourage foreign tourists to visit Indonesia, and NTB in particular," DR. Sapta Nirwandar, the ministry`s director general of marketing, said in a press conference recently.
The event is also aimed at promoting the NTB pearls to get access to international markets and encouraging investment in the pearl and tourism businesses in NTB.
The government has invited potential buyers from 36 countries to the festival.
There will be also auctions of pearls from NTB, Maluku, Ternate, and Papua during the festival.
Visitors will also be invited to take part in a tour to see pearl cultivation along Lombok and Sumbawa coasts.
NTB is known and Indonesia`s largest pearl producer and has exported pearls to, among other things, New York (the United States), Tokyo (Japan), Geneva and Zurich (Switzerland), and Milan (Italy).
(Uu.F001/HAJM)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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