The observation was made by the Indonesian Ambassador to Iran, Octavino Alimudin, during the initial meeting between tourism ministers from the Dialogue member countries in Tabriz, Iran from August 29 to 30.
The dialogue was also attended by Asia Cooperation Dialogue Secretary General Bundit Limschoon along with a number of tourism ministers, deputy ministers, ambassadors and officials from 15 ACD member countries.
During the meeting, Iran Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri underlined the importance of international tourism cooperation between the ACD members as the tourism sector is one of the biggest foreign exchange generators in Asian countries.
In the discussion among member countries, the Indonesian delegates, led by Ambassador Alimudin, emphasized the importance of forming an international tourism partnership between participating countries as a lot of cultural sites in Asia are connected to one another.
The Ambassador said he supports standardizing services offered by tourism agents through foreign investment and capacity enhancement cooperation while maintaining local belief system at the same time.
"Indonesia also stressed the importance of security, safety and environmental issues in tourist destination areas," Ambassador Alimudin added.
The meeting also discussed the challenges involved in identifying a seeded tourism site in each country, ensuring direct flights to these sites and ensuring that services remain affordable.
The Asia Cooperation Dialogue forum is a work reservoir for countries in the East, South-East, Central and South Asia, including Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kirghizstan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Mongolia, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2016
