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)