Macau to Explore Middle East And India Tourist Markets
Written on April 17, 2007 by admin
The government of Macau is soon to explore the tourist markets of the Middle East and India, where Malaysia has had vast experience and could be an aid to Macau in terms of diversifying the territory’s tourist markets, the head of the Macau government said.
The announcement was made by Edmund HO at the end of an official visit to Malaysia where he met with the country’s prime minister and Finance Minister, Seri Abdullah Bin Hj Ahmad Badawi and the Foreign Relations and Tourism Minister, Seri Syed Hamid Albar, with whom he discussed issues related to bilateral cooperation, particularly in the area of tourism.
Ho, who is currently in Singapore on the last leg of his tour of southeast Asia, which also took him to Thailand and Malaysia, also said that he was “very satisfied with the interest shown by Malaysian businesspeople in investing in Macau.”
IN Kuala Lumpur, Ho attended the opening of the Seminar on Investment and Trade between Macau and Malaysia.
The Malaysian deputy Trade and Industry Minister during the seminar called for joint ventures to be set up between Malaysian and Macau businesspeople in order to take advantage of opportunities provided by both governments for expansion into both Asean and the Pearl River Delta.
“Malaysia is well-placed to offer the Macau business community a platform for establishing and expanding links with ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations),” a market with 560 million people with a combined GDP of US$850 billion, said Yb Ng Lip Yong.
Macau’s Secretary for the Economy, Francis Tam said that the existing opportunities in economic cooperation and noted that in 2006 bilateral trade has risen 14 percent against 2005 and reached US$55 million.
A cooperation memorandum for the tourism sector signed between Macau and Malaysia outlines that the two sides “will make efforts to exchange delegations and experiences in the area of tourism management and promotion, encouraging taking part in fairs (…) as well as promoting the joint study of programs for developing tourist packages, medical tourism, business tourism, amongst others.”
Costa Antunes, who is responsible for the Tourism Services Directorate in Macau noted that “the Southeast Asian market is of great importance to Macau. The Directorate has opened a series of representations in this region of the world, which have made great efforts to promote Macau tourism, with very positive results.”
Malaysia became the fifth-largest source of tourists to Macau in 2006. Over 200,000 visitors from Malaysia visited Macau in 2006, an annual rise of 106 percent. The first two months of 2007 saw a rise of 93 percent in visitors from Malaysia, totaling over 40,000 people.
Direct flights between Kuala Lumpur and Macau run by low cost airline Air Asia have boosted tourism between the two cities.
Technorati Tags: macau, Macau Tourism
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