GILGIT: Prime Minister Imran Khan has constituted the National Tourism Coor­dination Board (NTCB) and nine working groups for promotion of tourism in the country and for better coordination between the provinces and regions.

Syed Zulfiqar Abbas Bukhari has been appointed acting chairman of the NTCB, while four provinces of the country, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan have representation in the board.

According to a notification issued by the cabinet secretariat recently, the joint secretary of the cabinet division will be secretary of the board, while provincial ministers and secretaries of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, AJK and GB and chairmen of the Pakistan Association of Tour Operators, Travel Agents Association and Pakistan Hotel Asso­ciation will be its members.

Private members of the board include Kamaran Lashari, Ali Asghar, Aftabur Rehman, Sirajul Mulik, Samina Baig, Behram Avari, Muhammad Ayub Baloch, Yasir Rafiq and Zulfiqar Ali.

The notification further said that joint secretaries of the foreign affairs ministry, aviation division, interior ministry, defence ministry and information ministry would be representatives of their institutions in the board.

Under the terms of reference, the NTCB would coordinate between provincial, national and international institutions dealing with the tourism sector.

The NTCB will also engage in the marketing and promotion of tourism, coordination with EAD, BOL and other entities to attract investment in the sector.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2019