MYANMAR and its partners in the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Cooperation (BIMSTEC) economic grouping agreed last week on a plan to promote the tourism sector, which will include the establishment of a fund to meet the plan’s goals.

The agreement was reached at a meeting of the tourism ministers from BIMSTEC member countries, held August 29 in Katmandu, Nepal.

The fund will initially be established with contributions of US$10,000 from each of BIMSTEC’s seven members, which apart from Myanmar are Thailand, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan.

A statement issued at the end of the one-day meeting said an agreement had also been reached to set up a BIMSTEC tourism information centre in New Delhi and to develop multinational tour packages focusing on special interests such as Buddhism, eco-tourism and adventure travel.

Addressing a press conference after the meeting, Nepal’s minister of culture, tourism and civil aviation, Mr Pradip Gyawali, said the ministers also agreed to promote investment in the tourism sector within the region, and organise familiarisation trips for journalists and tour operators.

Mr Gyawali said all BIMSTEC members believed that the new action plan would help double the numbers of tourists visiting the individual countries in the next three years.