TEMPO.CO, Gowa - Tens of university students from 12 countries took part in a three-day Beautiful Malino flower parade in Malino, Gowa District, South Sulawesi Province.

"We know that Gowa has an annual tourism event, namely Beautiful Malino, hence we as participants of a student exchange program under the Indonesia cultural and art scholarship (BSBI), want to enjoy it," Kazaki, leader of the BSBI program in South Sulawesi, said here on Sunday.

The students are from Azerbaijan, Solomon Island, Africa, Japan, Malaysia and Spain, among others.

Local flowers are beautiful and Malino inhabitants are friendly, he said, adding that Gowa is pretty and rich of culture and history.

The BSBI program is organized by the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry to introduce Indonesian arts and culture to foreign students.

Haruna Ono, a Japanese student, said this is his first visit to Indonesia and he is impressed with the scenery of Malino.

"Malino is amazing. Its nature is very beautiful and its food such as 'tenteng' is delicious," Ono said.

District Head of Gowa Adnan Purichta Ichsan said Beautiful Malino flower parade is organized annually to attract domestic and foreign tourists to visit the region.

"The presence of these foreign students here is expected to help promote Malino in their respective countries," he remarked.

Malino is located on a plateau and it offers mountain panorama such as pine forest scenery and beautiful limestone range.

There are many waterfalls in Malino, such as One thousand stairs waterfall and Takapala Waterfall. In addition to, tourists could also enjoy a tea garden, blue valleys and Japanese bunkers heritage in Malino.

ANTARA