Indonesia to host world tourism conference
Indonesia to host world tourism conference
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia will host a large-scale international tourism conference in cooperation with the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) in the year 2000, says Joop Ave, Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications.
"According to a study completed by PATA, the organization needs to improve its targets of developments in the future," Joop told reporters after signing an agreement with Minister of Agriculture Sjarifudin Baharsjah on plantation development.
Joop, also PATA's chairman for the 1994-95 period, said that the international tourism conference is just one of the organization's long-term strategy to promote their agenda.
"I proposed Indonesia's plan to host the conference at the meeting of PATA's board of directors and management committee in Manila last week. Tourism ministers, as well as executives of tourism-related organizations, all over the world will be invited to the conference," he said.
"Indonesia will hopefully get official approval to host the international event at PATA's annual conference in April in Auckland, New Zealand," he said.
He said the Manila meeting also designated Singapore as the permanent location of PATA's annual travel mart, which will be effective as of 1998.
For the time being, PATA's travel marts are held in various countries, he said.
Joop said PATA also recommended Manila to host the association's 48th annual conference in 1998.
PATA's 55th annual conference will be held in Auckland this year, the 56th conference in Bangkok next year and the 57th in Beijing in 1997.
Under the agreement signed by the two ministers yesterday, the Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications will channel financial aid to farmers living in the eastern part of the country. The aid comes from the funds collected from portions of the profits of state-owned companies overseen by the ministry.
The government has obliged all state companies to allocate up to five percent of their after-tax profits for the promotion of the development of small businesses and cooperatives.
All state firms supervised by the ministry have so far allocated a total of Rp 64.44 billion, of which Rp 44.52 billion (69 percent) was given to 5,057 small businesses and cooperatives.
In yesterday's ceremony, the state-owned domestic telecommunications operator PT Telkom and postal service Perum Pos dan Giro also signed agreements with six firms which develop six small-scale projects in Irian Jaya, Maluku, South Sulawesi, East Timor and West and East Nusa Tenggara.(icn)