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AKARTA: The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry says it will soon petition UNESCO to register tenun songket, a golden fabric, as part of Indonesia’s cultural heritage.

“There is strong will to have it registered, as we did with batik, and we will do it,” Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said on Sunday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

Mari said registration would not be easy because it required detailed proof and verification of tenun songket as part of Indonesia’s cultural heritage.

She added that, if UNESCO accepted the registration, Indonesians would have a role to help songket live up to its reputation by preserving it and making it a part their daily lives.

“This is actually a job for all of us. Once it, like batik, is accepted by UNESCO as a cultural heritage, our job does not end there,” she said.