June 29, 2005	Wednesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 21, 1426

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

ISLAMABAD, June 28: The Malaysian deputy minister for tourism, Ahmed Zahid Hamid, here on Tuesday stressed the need for improved coordination between the travel agents of Pakistan and Malaysia to boost the tourism industry of both the countries.

Speaking at a press conference after holding meeting with a number of Pakistani officials of the ministry of tourism, Mr Hamid said Malaysia wanted to further project its tourism industry in the South Asia and especially in Pakistan. He said Malaysia possessed a great appeal for the Pakistani tourists because of its multi-culture society and improved law and order situation and could be a preferred destination in the whole region.

Besides, the transportation and communication system of Malaysia was also brilliant as well as its infrastructure and developed islands, he said.

He said a Malaysian troupe would also perform in a local hotel on Tuesday night to promote the cultural grandeur of his country.

He said 15.7 million visitors travelled to Malaysia in 2004 compared to 10.5 million in 2003, showing 48.5 per cent increase. Before the tsunami, 1.2 million visitors travelled to Malaysia every month, while after tsunami their number had increased to 1.38 million monthly, which meant that visitors loved the charm of this country.

He said Malaysia had a developed tourism sector and it earned $7.9billion every year through tourism. The minister said he had met Pakistani officials and had advised them to learn from the experiences of Malaysia.

A REPORTER ADDS: Earlier, during a meeting with the Malaysian minister, the federal minister for tourism, Dr G.G. Jamal, said Malaysia had offered every possible help to promote tourism industry in the country.

He said the help would cover the areas like exchange of tour operators, giving scholarships to students and tourism related people in Malaysian universities, work out tourism strategy and provision of expertise and services.

Mr Jamal said despite having high peaks, rich cultural heritage and oldest civilization, the government was not able to get desired results due to lack of trained and technical people.

APP adds: Meanwhile, talking to an 8-member delegation, Dr G. G. Jamal said Pakistan and Malaysia had agreed to initiate efforts to establish separate department of tourism in OIC that would not only promote tourism in Islamic countries but also increase people-to-people contact.

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)