Ambassador Amri says as an ambassador his prime role is to bring peoples of both countries closer

By ANSAR M BHATTI

BALI, INDONESIA, OCT 23 (DNA)- Dr. R. Sigit Sitjaksono Director  of Tourism Marketing for South and Central Asia, Middle East and Africa has said Indonesia has set a target of 20 million tourists in 2019 adding Indonesian tourism industry’s contribution to national earnings was around five percent.

He expressed these views while talking to Pakistan media persons during a reception he hosted for the FAMTRIP participants, in Bali.

Komang Mahawira Deputy Director for South Asia and Central Asia Marketing, Ministry of Tourism was also present on the occasion.

Dr. Sigit further said we have set a revenue target of USD 20 billion for the ongoing year and we are very much likely to achieve this target by the year end and if we achieve 20 billion target it will be number 1 contribution.

When asked to identify areas where both Pakistan and Indonesia can cooperate with each other, Dr. Sigit told tourism can surely be a factor that can bring both countries even closer.

He said every year around two million Indonesians proceed for Hajj or Umra and on their way back they make stopover in various Muslims countries for religious tourism purposes.

He said since Pakistan has plenty of religious tourism places therefore there is strong possibility of cooperation in this particular field. He suggested, Pakistan may offer Indonesian people directly or through the Ministry of Tourism and share details about religious tourism destinations available in Pakistan.

Right now Indonesian people visit Egypt, Turkey and Jordan after Hajj or Umra therefore Pakistan can also be an option.

Dr. Sigit said the Indonesian government under the leadership of President Joko Widodo was laying special emphasis on promotion and development of tourism infrastructure in the country. He said govt was especially focusing on Labuan Bajo Island, which has a lot to offer to tourists.

He lauded the role of Indonesian embassy in Islamabad for promoting bilateral relations and particularly the tourism potential of Indonesia adding FAMTRIP would surely contribute towards creating awareness about Indonesian strengths in this sector.

He admitted that connectivity was the key to promotion of tourism that is why the Indonesian embassy in Islamabad was trying its best to have a breakthrough in this regards. “We in Jakarta are also in close contact with the Embassy and extending all possible support to achieve this goal”.

“Indonesia has a lot of attractions and efforts are on to identify more attractions so as to attract more and more tourists, especially tourists from friendly and brotherly countries like Pakistan”.

Ambassador of Indonesia to Pakistan Iwan S Amri, who is also accompanying the FAMTRIP, thanked the Tourism Ministry for hosting reception for the members of Pakistani delegation.

He said as an ambassador his prime role was to bring peoples of both countries even closer and tourism can surely play an important part adding increased people to people cooperation will ultimately lead to enhanced cooperation in other areas also such as trade, economy and culture, to mention a few.

The ambassador said both countries have been cooperating with each other at all foras closely and our relations are on a positive trajectory.

The ambassador invited Dr. Sigit to visit Pakistan which the latter accepted and promised to visit Pakistan at his earliest convenience. =DNA

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