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GMS Tourism Working Group Convenes 12th Meeting in Kunming, (March-April 2001)

The 12th Meeting of the GMS Tourism Working Group (TWG) was held in Kunming, Yunnan Province, PRC from 30 March to 1 April 2001. Representatives of the national tourist organizations (NTOs) of the six GMS countries as well as representatives of ADB, ESCAP, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), and the Agency for Coordinating Mekong Tourism Activities (AMTA) participated in the Meeting.

As in previous meetings, the 12th Meeting of the TWG reviewed the progress made in the eight subregional tourism programs since the 11th Meeting of the TWG held in Phnom Penh in April 2000. A major outcome of the Meeting was PATA's announcement that the succeeding Mekong Tourism Forums - an annual event that brings together public and private entities involved in tourism development of the GMS - will be self-sustaining and will no longer require financial sponsorship of ADB.

The Meeting also endorsed the Tourism Report of the Preinvestment Study for the East-West Economic Corridor. The Report recommended 12 project proposals to promote tourism development and cooperation in the GMS: East-West Economic Corridor, spanning approximately 1,500 kilometers from Mawlamyine, Myanmar in the western end to Da Nang, Viet Nam in the eastern end. As a first step, AMTA will convene a meeting of the planned Marketing Task Force for the East-West Economic Corridor.

The Meeting discussed the issue of strengthening the ownership by the six countries of the cooperative efforts in GMS tourism. It was suggested that in order to raise the profile of GMS tourism cooperation, subsequent meetings of the TWG should be attended by the heads of the GMS NTOs. The Meeting agreed to propose the establishment of a GMS Tourism Ministers Conference to the 10th Ministerial Meeting on the GMS Program in order to catalyze stronger private sector participation in the tourism sector.

For the entire proceedings, email: gms@adb.org

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