RI, Singapore to jointly develop cruise ship tourism

Erwida Maulia, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 01/04/2011

Indonesia and Singapore have agreed to jointly develop cruise ship tourism in the neighbors' latest move to boost bilateral economic ties.

Indonesian Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa said here on Tuesday that the agreement was reached after a meeting between Singaporean Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang at the former’s office in Jakarta.

“Singapore is enjoying a cruise tourism boom and they need areas that the cruises can visit; one of them being Bali. From Bali they can explore eastern Indonesia, which has many potential marine tourist sites,” Hatta said.

He further elaborated that cruise ship tourism was one of six sectors Indonesia and Singapore wished to develop together.

Other targets of bilateral cooperations include civil aviation, manpower, agribusiness, investments, and cooperation in the special economic zones of Batam, Bintan and Karimun; three Indonesian regions bordering with the city state.

On the agribusiness sector, Hatta said the two countries had agreed that Indonesia would increase its vegetable and fruits exports to Singapore by 20 percent each year.