Indonesia needs to preserve its cultural heritage: French PM

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Fri, 07/01/2011

France’s Prime Minister François Fillon says he admires Indonesia’s diverse cultures during a public lecture on Friday at the University of Indonesia in Depok.

“Indonesia’s ancestors passed down many beautiful monuments such as Borobudur and Prambanan. Structures that are part of this nation’s civilization,” he said.

Fillon suggest that the civilization’s heritage should be preserved in a way that was friendly to the environment and biodiversity.

“Indonesia’s diverse cultural heritage successfully attracts foreign tourists, and 150 French people are among them,” he added.

He said the diverse cultures of Indonesia, with its slogan “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika”, should not be allowed to go extinct, the same way as France has always safeguarded its unity with “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité".