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Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia will keep promoting its tourism in Malaysia despite strained ties between the two neighboring nations over sea border disputes, a Culture and Tourism Ministry official said.

"We will continue to promote our tourism there as the country is one of the main markets for Indonesian tourism," the ministry`s deputy director for ASEAN, Chrismiastutie, said here on Thursday.

She expressed concern about tense relations between the two ASEAN member states which she said would have an impact on the number of Malaysian tourists visiting Indonesia.

After all, she predicted that Malaysia would be one of the main source countries of foreign tourists for Indonesia in the past one year.

"I observe the number of Malaysian tourists visiting Indonesia has begun to exceed that of Singaporean tourists," she said.

Singapore has been the biggest source country of foreign tourists for Indonesia over the past few years.

In 2009, a total of 1,272,682 Singaporean tourists visited Indonesia, contributing US$767.29 million to the country`s foreign exchange coffers.

Malaysia came in second with 1,179,366 tourists, contributing US$807.64 million to the foreign exchange earnings.

"Next year Malaysia is likely to top the list of source countries of foreign tourists for Indonesia," she said.

In the year to July 2010, 648,865 Malaysian tourists visited Indonesia, a 17.07 percent increase compared with the same period last year, she said.

Relations between Indonesia and Malaysia turned sour over the past weeks following the recent arrest by Malaysian police of three Indonesian fisheries officers.

Three Indonesian fisheries officers were arrested and later taken to Malaysia by a Malaysian police boat crew who had intercepted their boat on their way to Batam Island while escorting a Malaysian fishing boat that had been caught poaching in Indonesian waters on August 13.

They were later set free by the Malaysian authorities in exchange for the release of seven Malaysian fishermen who had been caught poaching in Indonesian waters near Bintan island.
(T.H016/Uu.S012/F001/P003)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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