Bogor, W Java - The Culture and Tourism Ministry will concentrate  on development of tourist sites in conservation areas which have not been developed maximally, a cabinet minister said. 

Accordingly,  Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik and Forestry Minister MS Kaban here Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the promotion of tourist sites in conservation areas. 

"The conservation and the tourism (sectors) should be merged," Wacik said after signing the MoU in West Java's town of Bogor, some 60 kilometers south of Jakarta. 

In such a way, he said, people could earn additional income from the tourism sector while consevation programs could continue to run at the same time.

Jakarta - Indonesia has the potential of securing climate change-related offshore loans worth US$1.2 billion which can be used to help offset a deficit in its state budget, an official said.

"We hope the loans will reach US$1.2 billion," State Minister for National Development Planning/Chief of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) Paskah Suzetta said here Thursday. But he stopped short of revealing whether the loans could be obtained this year or next year.