2013-01-21 — /travelprnews.com/ — The Fourth Meeting of ASEAN and India Tourism Ministers was held in Vientiane, Lao PDR today in conjunction with the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2013 . The Meeting was jointly co-chaired by Union Tourism Minister Shri K.Chiranjeevi and Prof. Dr. Bosengkham Vongdara, Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Lao PDR.
Both the Ministers signed the Protocol to amend the Memorandum of Understanding between ASEAN and India on Strengthening Tourism Cooperation, which would further strengthen the tourism collaboration between ASEAN and Indian national tourism organisations.
The main objective of this Protocol is to amend the MoU to protect and safeguard the rights and interests of the parties with respect to national security, national and public interest or public order, protection of intellectual property rights, confidentiality and secrecy of documents, information and data.
Both the Ministers welcomed the adoption of the Vision Statement of the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit held on 20 December 2012 in New Delhi, India, particularly on enhancing the ASEAN Connectivity through supporting the implementation of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity. The Ministers also supported the close collaboration of ASEAN and India to enhance air, sea and land connectivity within ASEAN and between ASEAN and India through ASEAN-India connectivity project.
The Ministers were pleased with the implementation progress of the MOU in 2012 through the following projects and activities:
• Familiarization trip of 10 travel writers from ASEAN Member States to India;
• Visit of teachers/faculty of hospitality institutes from India to ASEAN Member States and vice-versa for developing teaching modules and establishing student exchange programmes between ASEAN and India;
• Visit of 10 travel writers from India to ASEAN Member States;
• Familiarisation trip of 20 tour operators from ASEAN Member States to India during Buddhist Conclave; and
• Exchange visit of tour operators and travel agents between ASEAN and India
In further promoting tourism exchange between ASEAN and India, the Ministers agreed to launch the ASEAN-India tourism website (www.indiaasean.org) as a platform to jointly promote tourism destinations, sharing basic information about ASEAN Member States and India and a visitor guide.
The Ministers welcomed the successful conclusion of the 8000km ASEAN-India Car Rally organised as one of the highlighted events in commemorating the 20th Anniversary of ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations in 2012.
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Samir/rv