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