ASEAN to ink tourism pact<\/p>\n
Eileen Ng, Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur<\/p>\n
Southeast Asian leaders will seal a tourism pact at their
\nsummit in Cambodia next month to revive confidence in the region
\nfollowing the bloody bomb blasts in Bali, a minister said
\nTuesday.<\/p>\n
The decision to deepen tourism cooperation among the 10-member
\nAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was made two years
\nago but there was more urgency now following the Bali tragedy,
\nsaid Malaysian Tourism Minister Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir.<\/p>\n
\"The leaders will sign an ASEAN tourism agreement in Cambodia.
\nIt will spell out the decision of all ASEAN countries to work
\ntogether to promote tourism to the region and also intra-ASEAN
\ntravel,\" he told reporters.<\/p>\n
\"We want to help each other in tourism, to encourage intra-
\nASEAN travel. Maybe the richer ASEAN countries will invest in
\nhotel resort development in the not-so-rich ones. It's
\ncooperation in the wider sense.\"<\/p>\n
The annual ASEAN summit on November 4-5 in Phnom Penh will
\nbring together leaders from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam,
\nSingapore, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and
\nThailand.<\/p>\n
Heads of state or high-ranking officials are also expected
\nfrom China, Japan, South Korea and India.<\/p>\n
The Bali bombing, which killed at least 190 people, was a huge
\nblow to ASEAN's multi-billion-dollar tourism industry, already
\nreeling from terrorism, kidnappings and the aftermath of Sept.
\n11.<\/p>\n
The region has been hit by mass cancellations following the
\nOct. 12 blast but tour operators say it is still premature to
\nconclude that travellers are steering clear of the region.<\/p>\n
Many countries have however, cautioned their citizens against
\ntravelling to Indonesia following warnings by the U.S., Britain
\nand Australia of possible new attacks, especially at tourism
\nsites in cities and resorts.<\/p>\n
Australia and Britain have also issued travel advisories
\nwarning of heightened risk alerts in most ASEAN countries.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Abdul Kadir launched two tourism funds totalling 600
\nmillion ringgit (US$158 million) to boost development in the
\nindustry in Malaysia, where it is the second top foreign exchange
\nearner.<\/p>\n
He played down concerns over terrorism threats in Malaysia,
\nwhich has detained 72 suspected Muslim extremists, some allegedly
\nlinked to the al-Qaeda terror network, since late last year.<\/p>\n
\"Our theme to the world is 'Malaysia Truly Asia' -- that this
\nis a moderate, liberal, multiracial, multicultural country where
\npeople live happily with one another,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"Statistics prove that we are one of the safest countries in
\nthe world. We will continue to work very hard but we have to
\nanticipate problems because there wll be all sort of problems all
\nthe time.<\/p>\n
\"Bali is just one thing but there will be other things -- the
\nhaze, economic recession which is even worse especially in
\ncountries which are our leading tourism targets. We must be quick
\nto make changes.\"<\/p>\n
Abdul Kadir said the government sponsored some 600 tour
\noperators and journalists on visits to the country each month for
\nfamiliarisation tours and spent millions of dollars on
\nadvertisements overseas.<\/p>\n
An average one million tourists visit the country monthly,
\nwith gross receipts of two billion ringgit, he said.<\/p>\n
The government has set a target of 15 million tourist arrivals
\nfor 2003, he said. Some 10 million tourists visited Malaysia in
\nthe nine months to September, compared to 12.77 million in 2001.<\/p>\n
Abdul Kadir said the two new funds would provide loans to
\nimprove tourism products in the country to compete with emerging
\ntourist destinations such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.<\/p>\n
He said negotiations to set up a theme park with Hollywood
\ngiant Universal Studios were ongoing but declined to elaborate.<\/p>",
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