This is a good opportunity for Indonesia...
Kuta, Bali (ANTARA News) - Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Mari Elka Pangestu has stated that 10 major Indonesian cities will host a series of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings in October 2013.

"Besides the main event, we will have a series of international programmes and meetings, including music and art shows and seminars," she said on the sidelines of a coordination meeting on the Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia`s Economic Development (MP3EI) on Thursday night.

Mari added that the 10 major cities were Lombok, Medan, Palembang, Yogyakarta, Bandung, Jakarta, Manado, Makassar, Semarang, and Surabaya.

Although the APEC Summit itself will take place in Bali, the idea behind holding the other meetings in major cities outside the province is to promote the potential of the country as a whole in order to boost the creative economy, she explained.

"This is a good opportunity for Indonesia," Mari noted.

When asked about tourism potential of the 10 cities where the meetings are scheduled to be held, she said "it would be promoted at the venue of the meeting".

"When the APEC meeting will be held in Surabaya, for example, we will promote Mount Bromo and the Batu tourist resort, among other things," Mari stated.

"We also have books and films ready to promote the 10 places during the APEC meetings," she added.
(S012/INE)

Editor: Ella Syafputri
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