Tourism Ministry Holds Pearl Festival In West Nusa Tenggara

Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, Nov 27 (Antara) - The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy in cooperation with West Nusa Tenggara`s (NTB) Culture and Tourism Department is holding the Lombok Sumbawa Pearl Festival (LSPF), which began on Tuesday and will end on Wednesday. The festival, which is being held at the Lombok Raya Hotel, saw the participation of 30 pearl traders and was inaugurated by NTB Deputy Governor H Muh Amin on Tuesday night. Esthy Reko Astuty, the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry`s Director General for Marketing, said on Tuesday that the LSPF 2013 was the fourth annual event since the first one being held in 2011. She pointed out that the festival was aimed at promoting Lombok as a world-class pearl producer and encouraging foreign tourists to visit Indonesia and NTB in particular. "The event is also aimed at promoting NTB`s pearls and to get access to international markets, which would encourage investment in the pearl and tourism businesses in NTB," she said. According to Esthy, the festival had achieved significant results each time it was held. She further pointed out that the transaction value of the pearl festival, since it was first conducted, had continued to augment from US$47,425 in 2010 to US$120,000 in 2011, and US$175,000 in 2012, which was a 33.33 percent increase from 2011. West Nusa Tenggara is known as Indonesia`s largest pearl producer and exports pearls to, among many places, New York, in the United States, Tokyo in Japan, Geneva and Zurich in Switzerland and to Milan in Italy. "We hope that the Lombok Sumbawa Pearl Festival 2013 will boost our export value and encourage local resident`s creativity and help them improve their economy and welfare," she said.