06 March 2005	Sunday	24 Muharram 1426

PESHAWAR, March 5: The federal tourism ministry, with the support of respective provincial departments, has planed to celebrate Ghandahara week to attract foreign tourists.

Federal Tourism Minister G. G. Jamal, in a meeting held here on Saturday, reviewed the arrangements and discussed the details with the officials of the department concerned.

The directorate of museums and archaeology, NWFP, which is also a partner in arranging the event would hold exhibitions and publish pamphlets and booklets about the Ghandahara civilization, said Dr Ihsan Ali, director of museums and archaeology.

The purpose of holding the event from March 28 to April 3 was to promote the Ghandahara culture and provide an opportunity to people to see the collection in the museums of Taxila, Peshawar and Swat.

Tourists from Korea, Japan, China, Thailand, the UK, the USA and other countries are expected to visit the archaeological monuments, stupas and monasteries of Taxila, Takht Bhai (a selected historical site on the Unesco's world heritage list) and Saidu Sharif.

Foreign tourists should be provided the opportunity to see the country's historic places, Dr Ihsan said and added that the weeklong event would hopefully help boost the tourism industry.

The week-long tours to the historic places and museums would encourage the tourists to see closely the culture of the country, he said, adding that ambassadors of various countries would also be invited.

The NWFP governor and chief minister would host dinners in the honour of the tourists and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz would a host farewell dinner at Islamabad for the visiting tourists.