Ha Noi – Representatives from ASEAN member countries and their partners, namely Japan, China, Russia and the Republic of Korea, are gathering in Ha Noi to discuss how to boost their cooperation in tourism.
Discussions will be held among working groups and leaders of national tourism agencies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members. ASEAN tourism agencies will also hold meetings with their Japanese, Chinese, Russian and the RoK counterparts.
Hosting the events, which began on July 3 and will wrap up on July 7, is the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).
Top of the agenda for ASEAN members were the implementation of their cooperation projects, focusing on promotional activities, information sharing, response to crises that affect tourism, youth tourism, service quality and human resources development.
They will also discuss how to tackle mechanism-related difficulties in facilitating travel among ASEAN countries.
ASEAN members plan to seek assistance from Japan, China and the RoK in tourism promotion, personnel training and sustainable tourism, including the establishment of the ASEAN-China and the ASEAN-RoK Centres following the model of the ASEAN-Japan Centre to promote bilateral trade, investment and tourism between ASEAN and these countries.
ASEAN member countries and Russia put forth measures to foster their cooperation during their session.
The VNAT said these events are part of Viet Nam`s preparations for hosting and holding the Presidency of the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2009, which will take place in Ha Noi.
Source: www.namnewsnetwork.org (5 Juli 2007)
