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major international exhibition of food, beverages, equipment and services that support the hospitality and tourist industries is taking place in Bali'€™s largest convention center.

Over 800 leading companies from 40 countries are participating in the Food, Hotel Tourism 2014 (FTH 2014) that kicked off Thursday at the Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center.

Organized by PT Pamerindo Indonesia, the three-day event is showcasing a diverse range of food and drink, hotels, restaurants, bakeries, as well as food service equipment, supplies and services.

Strong participation by companies reflected the vibrant and dynamic character of Bali for hospitality, retail and tourism-sector related development, said G. Firmansjah, chairwoman of PT Pamerindo Indonesia.

'€œNow held for the ninth time, FHT 2014 has surpassed all previous events and is the biggest to date in terms of exhibition space and number of exhibitors,'€ she said of the exhibition, which spans 10,290 square meters in the recently expanded convention center.

The retail sector in Bali and the eastern part of Indonesia had grown significantly, she went on, and the increase in consumer spending had triggered retail businesses to grow by up to 85 percent in the country'€™s leading supermarkets and hypermarkets.

Wiwiek Roberto, the organizing committee'€™s senior project manager, added that the exhibition provided an ideal platform for restaurants, hotels, retailers and associated establishments to connect with multiple products, services and solutions to facilitate their businesses keep pace with evolving market trends.

In addition to the exhibition display, there are also a series of professional competitions, workshops and seminars running simultaneously until Saturday.

Bali Salon Culinaire, a world-class cooking competition organized by Bali Culinary Professionals (BCP), saw teams of top chefs competing before a group of 15 distinguished culinary experts to represent Bali in an international cook-off to determine a world champion team of chefs.

Christian Nehemia, BCP vice president, said that one of the highlights of this year'€™s event was the '€œDewata Gastronomic Challenge'€, a prestigious competition involving all elements in the food and beverage industry, as part of Bali Salon Culinaire 2014. Deputy Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sapta Nirwandar hailed the event as a great way to enrich capacity, expand networking, enhance mutual benefits and share knowledge and skills among the industries'€™ stakeholders.