Kraton festival begins in Surakarta
JAKARTA (JP): Coordinating Minister for Industry and Trade Hartarto opened the Nusantara Kraton Festival in the Central Javanese city of Surakarta over the weekend, saying that the tourist industry had become an important economic factor in Indonesia.
The week-long festival was opened at the court of the of palace (kraton) of Kasunanan. There are 20 participating palaces in Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku and East Nusa Tenggara.
The opening ceremony was marked by a parade of 2,500 people dressed in traditional soldiers' attire, representing the 20 palaces. Traditional cavalry and old royal carriages also took part.
The 5-kilometer-long procession started at the Susuhunan Palace and ended at Mangkunegaran Palace, the Antara news agency reported.
Every evening there will be various cultural performances at both the Susuhunan and Mangkunegaran courts. Palace artifacts from many parts of Indonesia, which are considered to possess supernatural powers, and products of home industries are also being displayed.
Minister Hartarto said that last year at least four million foreign tourists visited Indonesia, generating US$4.7 billion in foreign currency earnings for the government.
The minister called on all businesses involved in the tourist industry to seek new opportunities for selling Indonesian tourist objects to tourists.
Hartarto said that Indonesia would boost cooperation in tourism with ASEAN member countries and Asia-Pacific nations.
He said that by promoting cooperation with ASEAN countries Indonesia hoped to improve tourism in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
From the existing cooperation with Singapore, Jakarta expects to boost tourism in Surakarta -- which is popularly called "Solo" -- Yogyakarta, Bali and West Nusa Tenggara, he said.
According to Hartarto, the development of tourism will also spur progress in other economic sectors.
Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave announced that the Kraton Festival will be held once every two years and that the West Javanese city of Cirebon, which is also well known for its own royal house, has offered itself as the host of the next festival.
"I will discuss the matter with both the West Java and Cirebon administrations because financing such a festival is no small financial undertaking," he said after the opening ceremony.
Joop said that the current festival was participated in by 3,600 people and was financed by the organizing committee.
He said that although Indonesia's royal houses no longer had political power, most of them still played an important role in the development of the country's culture, morality and philosophy. (tis)