ASEAN website on terrorism proposed

ASEAN website on terrorism proposed

CAMBODIA: Cambodia has proposed the creation of an ASEAN website
to provide information on terrorism and on security for foreign
tourists in the Southeast Asian region, its Minister of Tourism
announced on Thursday.

"Security is the heart of tourism. We need to create a
mechanism so when there is a terrorism problem, we can share
information among ASEAN countries, the private sector and source
tourist countries," Minister Sereyvuth said.

Minister Sereyvuth said shared intelligence was vital because
all countries in the region were connected through tourism, and
if tourists stopped traveling to one country, neighboring
destinations would also be affected.

The security intelligence will also be available to foreign
embassies. The tourism minister said he hoped this would help to
avoid countries issuing statements warning people against
traveling to Southeast Asia, as occurred after the Bali bombing
in October 2002. --DPA