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The SLFP nominee for the post of Prime Minister of 2006 and Investment
Promotion and Tourism Minister Anura Bandaranaike will declare open the
Annual SAARC Summit of Tourism Ministers today, July 29 at 10 am at the
Taj Samudra Hotel in
Colombo.
Delegates from India,
Bangladesh, Butan,
Maldives, Pakistan and
Sri
Lanka will participate at the deliberations of the Summit. While the
Ministers and governments officials engage in matters related to travel and
tourism, travel agents, tour operators, hoteliers and other travel-related
organizations from these countries would also hold meetings.
Delegates will focus their attention on a number of issues pertaining to
tourism sector in the region. The Ministerial Summit bound to have its great
impact on the efforts of the respective countries to realize the need to
increase cooperation to achieve broader economic benefits within South Asia.
The event is timely to Sri Lanka as the Summit would revamp tourism as a
trade and give new life to tourism to countries in the region and facilitate
travel within the respective countries bringing economic, social and
cultural benefits to them all. The outcome of the Summit would be important
to all participating countries as it takes place in the aftermath of tsunami
catastrophe that adversely affected tourism as an industry in countries such
as Sri Lanka, Maldives, India and Bangladesh.
At the 12th SAARC Summit held in Islamabad in January 2004,declared the
year 2005 as the " South Asian Tourism Year" and to hold the Summit in Sri
Lanka.
The Organizers, the Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Sri
Lanka and the Ministry of Tourism have made arrangements to issue a stamp
and a picture postcard to mark the South Asian Tourism Year at the
commencement of the Summit.
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