Wire-Tapping Row Yet To Impact Tourism: Minister

Denpasar, Bali, Nov 25 (Antara) - Indonesia`s Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy has said that the spying allegations that resulted in strained relations between Indonesia and Australia have not affected the country`s tourism business. "So far, we do not see any impact on the tourism sector because we are focused on a people-to-people connection," Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said on Monday. She made the statement at the inauguration of the World Culture Forum (WCC) in Nusa Dua, Bali. The minister added that the recent heating up of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Australia had not affected the visits of foreign tourists from Australia. There had been no visit cancellations either, she pointed out. "The governments of the two countries are still making efforts through diplomatic channels to overcome the problems we are facing together," Mari said. With regards to the fact that Australia had issued a travel advisory to its citizens, Mari said it was the right of all countries to protect its citizens. "It is the right of a state. It (Australia) had issued such an advisory sometime in the past," Mari who is also a former Trade Minister, stated. She noted that the Indonesian police had guaranteed the protection of all foreign citizens visiting Indonesia. "The Police Chief has extended a guarantee on his part that the security of Australian tourists and those from other countries will be ensured," Mari said. She added that Australia was one of the biggest tourist exporters to Indonesia and it had always ranked third on the list of biggest countries sending tourists to Indonesia. The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy has set a target of one million Australian tourists arriving in Indonesia in 2013. The Bali province is one of the favorite destinations in Indonesia for Australian tourists. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had ordered the suspension of several cooperation programs with Australia on Wednesday following allegations that Australian intelligence agencies tapped the private cell phones of Indonesian state officials. "I want them to be suspended until everything is clarified. We are unlikely to continue with the programs if we are not certain there has been no wire-tapping," President Yudhoyono said after a meeting with Indonesian Ambassador to Australia Najib Riphat Kesoema on Wednesday. The cooperation programs that have been suspended include the exchange of intelligence information, joint military exercises and military operations to curb people smuggling, he stated. Yudhoyono said he was disappointed by the news that the Australians had wire-tapped the phones of Indonesian officials, especially since both countries had agreed to upgrade their bilateral cooperation to a strategic partnership in 2015. "If someone states that intelligence information can achieve anything, then I ask, in which direction does the intelligence go? Why should they tap their friends and not their enemies? I consider the matter to be serious, and not merely from a legal point of view. I think neither Australian nor Indonesian law allows their intelligence agencies to wire-tap officials of other countries," he noted. The Australian Broadcasting Corp. and The Guardian newspaper had published documents leaked by former United States National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden, which showed that the top-secret Australian Signals Directorate had also targeted the phones of Indonesian first lady Kristiani Herawati and eight other government ministers and officials.