Hoang Tuan Anh, Minister of Culture, Sport and Tourism said a common visa scheme would also be carried out among the five countries of ACMECS, which stands for the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy.—VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Vu
HCM CITY (VNS) – Five Southeast Asian countries, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam, are targeting a double-digit growth rate of international visitors annually by 2015 under the theme “Five Countries – One Destination”, according to Hoang Tuan Anh, Minister of Culture, Sport and Tourism.
In the press conference to announce the joint statement of the first Meeting of ACMECS Tourism Ministers organised on Wednesday in HCM City, Tuan Anh, the meeting’s chairman, said the five countries aimed to attract 50 million foreign investors and 10 intra-regional million visitors by 2015.
“In the meeting, the ministers emphasised that the growth rate of intra-regional visitors should be higher than that of international visitors,” Tuan Anh said.
He said a common visa scheme would also be carried out among the five countries of ACMECS, which stands for the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy. The ACMECS organisation was founded in 2003 to bridge the economic gap among the countries and promote prosperity in the sub-region in a sustainable manner.
“Currently, Cambodia and Thailand have already piloted this scheme. The others, Laos, Thailand and Viet Nam, will further study and propose to their Government in order to implement the scheme soon,” he said.
Ministers from the five countries agreed to set up a new tourism corridor along Bagan, Chiang Mai, Luang Prabang, Vientiane, Siem Reap, Da Nang and Hue.
In their first meeting, the ministers were pleased about the performance of the ACMECS tourism in 2012 when the member countries welcomed more than 37 million international visitors, including 6 million intra-regional visitors, an increase of nearly 18 per cent year-on-year.
The ministers also reviewed ACMECS tourism cooperation outlined by the Vientiane Declaration of the fifth ACMECS Summit and ACMECS Plan of Action 2013-15.
Ministers from the five countries agreed to set up a new tourism corridor along Bagan, Chiang Mai, Luang Prabang, Vientiane, Siem Reap, Da Nang and Hue.—VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Vu
They said results had been achieved in major areas, including joint tourism promotion and marketing; travel facilitation; human resources development and safety and security ensurance for tourist; cross-sector and local cooperation; public-private partnership; and cooperation with development partners.
Working with its development partners, the five countries’ transportation infrastructure along the East West Economic Corridor has become more favourable for travelling by land.
According to a statement, road conditions and procedures at the pair of borders and gates between ACMECS countries has also improved.
Air travel between major tourist destinations of the ACMECS countries has become relatively convenient with the operations of the national airlines of Viet Nam, Thailand and other countries.
The local provinces of central Viet Nam, central Laos and northeast Thailand have gathered yearly and many cooperation frameworks have been established between the localities of the countries.
According to the joint statement, from 2013 onward, ACMECS tourism ministries will collaborate with tourism associations, travel operators, hotels, restaurants and airlines to grant tourism awards including the as Airline of the Year, Outbound Tour Operator of the Year, Inbound Tour Operator of the Year, Five Star Hotel of the Year and Resort of the Year.
This is the first meeting of the ACMECS tourism ministers. The second will be held in Myanmar in 2015. —VNS
Đăng ký: VietNam News