Tourism, trade, investment fair to be held in Balikpapan

Tourism, trade, investment fair to be held in Balikpapan

BALIKPAPAN, East Kalimantan (JP): Salespeople from Indonesia's
10 provinces, as well as from Brunei, Malaysia and the
Philippines, will participate in the first regional Tourism,
Trade and Investment Fair which will be held here from Oct. 27 to
Oct. 31.

The event, to be held within the framework of the East ASEAN
Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) regional cooperation, will be attended by
buyers from 10 countries, including the United States, Australia,
and Japan, and European countries.

A Directorate General of Tourism official at the Ministry of
Tourism, Post and Telecommunications, Johnson, said Balikpapan,
the second largest city in the province, was chosen to host the
event because of its strategic location.

Johnson said Balikpapan had an international airport and other
supporting facilities to hold the international event. The city
was also located in the middle of BIMP member countries, he said.

Coordinating head of East Kalimantan BIMP Awang Faisal said
the province was ready to use the event to promote its main
business sectors, such as tourism and mining.

Awang said businesspeople in East Kalimantan had signed 20
memorandums of understanding (MOU) with their partners from other
BIMP-EAGA members, but the realization of the MOUs was slow
because business partnership plans had to be processed in Jakarta
first.

He said to develop the BIMP-EAGA, the government must give
limited authorization to the governor to accomplish MOUs that had
been signed.

"We hope that these obstacles will be discussed and solved
during senior official and minister meetings at the fair," he
said. (42/das)