We must find ways to attract more tourists from the Netherlands and Europe to Indonesia.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Mari Elka Pangestu is currently on a three-day visit to the Netherlands to explore the possibilities of a joint collaboration between the two countries in the field of creative economy, a ministry statement said on Saturday.

Minister Pangestu`s visit, which began on Thursday, is expected to conclude on Saturday.

"Besides attending the National Day at the World Horticultural Floriade in Venlo, I also met with Maxime Verhagen, the Dutch Minister of Economy, Agriculture and Innovation," Pangestu said in the statement.

She also stressed on the importance of the meeting for the development of tourism and creative economy in Indonesia, considering that the Dutch government has distinguished the creative industry as one of its economy`s nine most prime sectors.

"We also discussed the trading program, cooperation in human resource capacity building and policies for development of creative industries, which include granting incentives and tax reductions, etc," Pangestu stated.

She added that the talking points from the meeting will be used as inputs for developing strategies for the expansion of the tourism and creative economy of the country going forward.

The minister also noted that Indonesia`s participation for the third time in the Floriade has garnered a positive response, with the Indonesian pavilion at the event receiving five to eight thousand visitors a day.

"Based on our estimates, the event drew around two million visitors, 40 percent of which visited the Indonesian pavilion. This is encouraging as the Floriade is held only once every ten years and provides a good platform for promoting Indonesian horticulture and tourism," Pangestu said.

The Indonesian pavilion showcased crafts from traditional houses such as Toraja, Betawi and Java, in addition to cultural products of the Indonesian people and other tourism objects.

"Members of the Indonesian contingent from government firms like the state-owned Pertamina, also held various business meetings with private groups during the Floriade resulting in the signing of a variety of cooperation agreements, which have a lot of business potential for development," the minister stated.

She also met with some of the big tour operators of Netherlands who have business links in Indonesia and said they have shown a keen interest in doing more business in Indonesia.

Pangestu said that the meeting was important as Indonesia needs to tap a greater portion of the Dutch market for continuing economic growth and bearing in mind the current economic crisis of Europe.

"We must find ways to attract more tourists from the Netherlands and Europe to Indonesia," she said.

(H016)

Editor: Ella Syafputri
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