Indonesia to host Asean tourism investment forum

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia was scheduled to host the ASEAN Tourism Investment Forum (ATIF) in Bali on September 20, 2007, Director General for Tourist Destination Development of the Culture and Tourism Ministry, Sambudjo Parikesit, said.

ATIF which would be held for the second time in Bali after the one in Kuala Lumpur, is held to invite ASEAN countries to be places for investment in the tourism sector, Sambudjo said here Tuesday.

"We will invite prospective investors from ASEAN and the Middle East to invest in Indonesia," he said.

After Emaar International, an investor from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, which will build resorts, hotels and recreational sites on an area which used to be the Lombok Tourism Development Center at Mandalika Beach, Central Lombok, another investor also from the Middle East, Limitless, is also interested in making an investment in Indonesia, he said.

"Limitless wishes to invest in the retail and residence businesses in Jakarta, and the retail, residence and tourism businesses in Bali," he said.

However, Sambudjo had yet to elaborate on the investment Limitless would make in the tourism sector in Bali. "They want to conduct a feasibility study first on the relevant financial aspect and regulations," he said.

Meanwhile, Emaar International would soon sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on investment in Indonesia late this month, he said.

"I got the information from Pak Alwi (Alwi Shihab, Indonesian president`s special envoy for the Middle East) that Emaar International will sign an MoU late in April on investment in Lombok," he said.

An Emaar group which has twice visited the location where it would make an investment, plans to build resorts, hotels, golf courses and other recreational sites on a 1,200-hectare plot of land.