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ourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari Elka Pangestu on Thursday signed an agreement with the UK government to promote the creative industry in both countries.

The UK government, represented by Minister of Culture, Communications and Creative Industries Ed Vaizey, agreed to cooperate with Indonesia to increase the capacity of human resources as well as to jointly conduct various trainings and studies on creative fields such as music, film, fashion, architecture, design, cuisine and others.

“Through this agreement, we hope that there will be a deeper cooperation in knowledge- and experience-sharing, as well as more intensive cooperation with the UK government, to jointly promote the creative economy,” Mari said in a statement.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) will be followed up by Indonesia’s Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry and the British Council, who will form a working group to formulate programs and events to put the agreement into practice, the statement said, adding: “Minister Vaisey has also agreed to send delegations from several companies working in the creative industry to Indonesia.”

In 2010, the creative industry accounted for 7.29 percent of Indonesia’s GDP and absorbed 8.5 million workers or 7 percent of the total work force in Indonesia, according to the statement.

Meanwhile, realized investments in Indonesia’s tourism sector, classified under investments in hotels and restaurants, rose to Rp 6.9 trillion (US$717 million) in the third quarter, according to recent data. The figure is already three times higher than the Rp 2.4 trillion of tourism investments realized throughout 2011.