Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said Indonesia was the most leading country in the development of creative economy which was expected to contribute 11 percent to the national economy up to 2014.

"Indonesia includes 14 national economic aspects in its creative economic sector. China and South Korea only include four aspects," Minister Mari E Pangestu said in a seminar here on Wednesday.

She said that Indonesia was the first country to have a ministry which handled creative economy, a sector whose main basis was human resources that had unlimited sustainability, unlike other industries whose basis was natural resources.

The minister said that creative economy was closely related to the tourism industry because various tourism mainstay products were produced by creative economy starting from handicraft to culinary products.

Creative economy is expected to reinforce national economy strength in the face of the impact of the European and the United States economic meltdown.

"During the 2008 economic crisis, tourism was one of the sectors which were not affected by the economic down turns," the minister said.

In 2010 the creative economic sector contributed 7.2 percent to national economy and the government has now prepared various steps to boost its development so that it would contribute over 10 percent in 2014.

The growth of creative economy in 2006-2009 was recorded at 2.9 percent per annum.
(Uu.A014/F001)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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