Malaysia's Selangor State Government Signs LOI With Indonesia's NTB

By Azlee Nor Mahmud LOMBOK (Indonesia), Dec 17 (Bernama) -- Malaysia’s Selangor state government has signed a “Letter of Intent “ with Indonesia’s Nusa Tenggara Barat (NTB), for potential cooperation in trade, tourism as well as other sectors that serve as catalysts for development. State Tourism and Culture, Malay Civilisation and Heritage Exco Abdul Rashid Asari is heading a Selangor State Tourism Mission here, while NTB is the representative of the Governor, Dr Hajah Siti Rohmi Djalillah. Abdul Rashid said the Malaysia and Indonesia cultural exchange programme is focused specifically on Selangor and the province of Lombok. “At the same time, the programme is sponsored on the basis of the friendly and close bilateral relations between Malaysia and Indonesia and opens new opportunities to facilitate the implementation of activities between both countries,” he told Bernama. He said it was hoped the mission would enable the sharing of views, exchange of ideas and cooperation for better understanding and development between Malaysia and Indonesia. “From the aspect of tourism, Indonesia has topped the five biggest contributors of tourists to Selangor over the past five years. “For 2018, we are aiming for 220,000 Indonesian tourists to have visited Selangor,” he added. According to Abdul Rashid, in 2017, the number of Indonesian tourists to Selangor stood at 210,000. The tourism segments which are the key contributors to the state are Medical Tourism, Shopping Experience, Education Tourism and Theme Parks. He said Selangor’s tourism and culture industry had a lot of potential of being developed in Indonesia. “In our efforts towards making the industry active and progressive, we, the Selangor state government will fully support all efforts of its players in Indonesia to develop products that are attractive and which can be promoted,” he added. The Selangor State Tourism Mission from Dec 16-19 will visit a number of attractive locations, among them being the Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation Centre (ITDC) or better known as the PT Pusat Pengembangan Pariwisata Indonesia. -- BERNAMA