UNWTO Solidarity with Indonesia and Confidence in its Tourism Sector

Madrid, 20 July 2009 " United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) expressed its solidarity with the people of Indonesia in the face of the recent events in Jakarta, targeting some of its tourism facilities.

The UNWTO Secretary-General a.i., Taleb Rifai, confirmed that UNWTO is working closely with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to advance its tourism sector, which plays a vital role for Indonesia in terms of jobs, trade and development and has recently succeeded in achieving solid and impressive results due to its rich and diverse product.

Rifai expressed great confidence in the capacity and experience of the Government of Indonesia to overcome quickly the current difficulties, to consolodate the rich and vast tourism assets that it possesses and to continue building an even stronger Tourism sector n the future.

Contact Information:

Assistant Secretary General and Spokesperson: Geoffrey Lipman

Media Officer: Marcelo Risi

T: +34 91-567-8178/8100 " F: +34 91-567-8218

comm.@UNWTO.org " www.UNWTO.org

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Global Players Meet in Bali To Push Trade Liberalization

Bali was the forum for the first round of meetings with key players in global trade talks last week, amid mounting concerns over protectionist measures announced by the white house.
Speaking at the gathering of 19 major farm exporting countries in Bali, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said that the global economic crisis was putting pressure on countries to protect their economies, while at the same time underlining the need for greater trade liberalization.
" Leaders should show their commitment," she told reporters.
" Everybody knows the United States and India are the most important players in terms of setting the tone and providing how far the [Doha]agreement can go. The new administrations on both sides are providing a fresh perspective in how they see this global issue can be solved."
At the event, US trade Representative Ron Kirk met World Trade Organization chief Pascal Lamy and recently appointed indian Trade Minister Anand Sharma.
Disagreements-primarily between india and United States over tariffs-coused the last series of negotiations between WTO ministers to collapse in Geneva in July, plunging the fate of the broader Doha Round into uncertainty.
Developing countries, including China and India, want the industrialized world to scrap agricultural export subsidies, while Western powers are seeking greater access for their products in emerging markets.
Sharma said it was time to "pick up the pieces from where they are and move forward. We are not looking at difficulties, we are looking at the possibilities, to do our best and take this process to its culmination," he said.
"there are no obstacles which are insurmountable. We have to create an understanding and trust. There have to be adaptations and adjustments, that is what negotiations are meant for."
The Indian minister said he would go to Washington this month for follow-up talks. The talks were taking place on the Cairns Group of major farm exporters, which includes Australia, Brazil and Canada.
The group has called for a fresh start to the Doha Round and condemned rising protectionism, including a new trade war between the United States and Europe over dairy export subsidies.
The WTO talks, which started at the end of 2001 in the Qatari capital, aim to boost global comnerce by removing trade barriers and subsidies.
The 19-nation Cairns Group accounts for about 25 percent of world farm exports and advocates cuts to all tariffs and the elimination of export subsidies.

Resource: Shipping Gazette

Two Years Later, Tsunami Drills Held in Bali and Sumatra

Wasti Atmodjo and Syofiardi Bachyul Jb., The Jakarta Post, Sanur, Padang

The scenario is frightening: a huge earthquake measuring 8.3 on the Richter scale hits Denpasar, the provincial capital of Bali, at 9:15 a.m. Thousands of people run screaming from Sindhu beach in the Sanur resort area.

Five minutes later, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) issues a tsunami warning. The quake's epicenter is said to be 10 km under the sea.

When the warning comes, people are fleeing coastal areas to higher ground as tidal waves five to six meters high close in. Within 30 minutes, the waves have flooded most of Denpasar.

This disaster in Bali is not real. It was part of a tsunami drill held Tuesday to mark the two-year anniversary of the devastating waves that killed tens of thousands of people in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and North Sumatra.

A similar drill was held in Padang, West Sumatra. More than 5,000 students in Padangpariaman regency's nine villages scrambled from their classrooms to higher ground as soon a tsunami warning siren wailed.

The students then practiced helping injured 'victims'. The drill was organized by the Tsunami Alert community and Mercy Corps Indonesia through the Interagency Working Group and the regency administration. More than 36,000 of the regency's residents live in coastal areas.

"The drill in Bali is the most comprehensive tsunami drill held in the country since the real tsunami hit Aceh and North Sumatra on the same day two years ago," said Harkunti Pertiwi Rahayu, the chair of the tsunami prevention program and a tsunami expert at the Bandung Institute of Technology.

Numerous smaller drills have been carried out in tsunami-prone areas, he added.

The drill in Bali was jointly organized by the state ministries of technology and environment, the tourism ministry, the BMG, educational institutions and other partners. It involved at least 14,000 Denpasar students ranging from elementary to high school, as well as the tourism industry, local communities and local officials.

State Minister of Research and Technology Koesmayanto said the drill was a key step in preparing people to cope with disasters.

Bali is one of the world's top vacation destinations and one of the areas of the country most vulnerable to earthquakes. The island has two active volcanoes and was hit by a huge earthquake and volcanic eruption in the early 1960s.

Koesmayanto said the government has installed tsunami early warning systems in several provinces, with the newest system able to send an alert within just six to eight minutes.

The tsunami early warning system includes seismographs and buoys. Since 2005, the government has added 70 seismographs in the western part of the country. By 2008, there will be 160. In Bali, six buoys have been installed in Kuta, Sanur and Nusa Dua.

Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik said the government is also establishing tsunami escape buildings. Each will be constructed on 500 square meters of land at least five meters above sea level, and will be able to accommodate at least 400 people.

The buildings will be located at Nusa Dua resort in Bali and Pangandaran Beach in West Java.

Source: The Jakarta Post

Five Thousand People Ready for Monkey Dance, the Colossal in Bali

Jakarta, September 12th, 2006 " Monkey Dance, or the Cak Dance as the locals call it, commonly involves as many as 75 to 150 dancers. Visitors coming to Bali are continuously satisfied having watched the non-instrument dance usually performed at night. Extraordinarily, this type of dance will be presented by more than 5,000 people from Tabanan district in Tanah Lot, Bali, in September 29th, 2006. The dance would be commenced at around 5 pm as the day sees the end, taking an advantage of the unparalleled sunset as a backdrop in Tanah Lot, Bali. The crowd involved would be from various professions and age. Some of them are the local government officials, policemen, soldiers, teachers, students, and entrepreneurs from Tabanan. These people have been practicing for 3 months.



The colossal dance is called the Cakolosal 5,000 Tabanan and is fully supported by the government of Tabanan, Bali, and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of RI, as the Head of Tabanan District, Mr. Wiryatama, said during the press conference held in Sapta Pesona Building, Ministry of Culture and Tourism of RI, in Jakarta.


The event is part of the efforts done by Tabanan people in recovering Balis tourism industry. That is why the government of Tabanan is eager to held such event in Tanah Lot, preparing a grand stage called Surya Mandala, enough to cater all the dancers and around 4,000 spectators.


The dance whose choreographer is I Gusti Agung Ngurah Suparta, will take around 40 minutes. According to a tour operator, currently 1,500 international tourists have booked for the grand event.


Bali is now as normal as usual and many people are anticipating for more visitors to come.

Resource: Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Republic of Indonesia

Sail Bunaken largest Maritime event in Asia

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Sail Bunaken 2009 which will involve 24 warships and 150 sail boats as well as cruise ships from 26 countries will be the largest maritime event ever organized in Asia.

"This will be the largest maritime event ever held in Indonesia and Asia," Aji Sularso of the Sail Bunaken 2009 Organizing Committee said here recently.

The Sail Bunaken to be held in Manado, North Sulawesi, on August 12-20, 2009, would be part of the World Ocean Conference (WOC) activities as the theme would be "Protect Our Oceans for the Future Generation".

He said the event was expected to help promote Manado to be a world tourist destination.

Meanwhile, Vice Admiral Moeklas Sidiq, deputy chief of staff of the Indonesian Navy, said the planned participation of 24 warships from various countries reflected good relations among the world`s navies and would constitute the largest fleet review ever held by Indonesia, as one of the world?s largest maritime country.

The Sail Bunaken 2009 implementation will cost around Rp5.75 billion.

The event`s programs will include the Indonesian Fleet Review, a Yacht Rally, Festival Bunaken Expo, Bunaken Carnival, Jetski Trans Equator Touring, Bunaken Diving Competition, and International Fishing Competition.

The four-day World Ocean Conference (WOC), which was held in Manado, on May 11-15, 2009, adopted the Manado Ocean Declaration (MOD).

In their 21-point declaration, participants of the conference stated among others that they would strive to achieve long-term conservation, management and sustainable use of marine living resources and coastal habitats through appropriate application of precautionary and ecosystem approaches.

They stressed the need for national strategies for sustainable management of coastal and marine ecosystems as protective and productive buffer zones that deliver valuable ecosystem goods and services that have significant potential to address the adverse effects of climate change. (*)

Source: ANTARA News