Myanmar president delivers compelling speech on current state of Myanmar Tourism

Sein
Sein
Avatar of Nell Alcantara
Written by Nell Alcantara

NAY PYI TAW, Myanmar (eTN) – The President of Myanmar, Thein Sein, gave the current state of his country’s travel and tourism industry in a speech delivered during the opening ceremony of this year

NAY PYI TAW, Myanmar (eTN) – The President of Myanmar, Thein Sein, gave the current state of his country’s travel and tourism industry in a speech delivered during the opening ceremony of this year’s edition the ASEAN Tourism Forum.

In his speech, the Myanmar president said his country “has worked together with other member countries and dialogue partners towards the realization of a politically cohesive, economically integrated and socially responsible ASEAN community” and that his country “has further strengthened its engagement with external partners with the aim of achieving mutual benefits.”

According to President Thein Sein, Myanmar has also achieved significant progress in the implementation of strategic reforms prioritized by the government through different stages. “During the period of strategic political and economic reforms, there have been remarkable progress in the respective sectors of the country. The tourism and accommodation sectors have achieved significant progress.”

The Myanmar president noted that the entry of three Pyu Ancient Cities — Hanlin, Beikthano and Sri Kestra into the World Heritage List (as outcome of the 38th Session of the UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee held, in Doha, Qatar) has given Myanmar “a new milestone in its cultural identity and history.”

Adding to the accolades that Myanmar has received is the actual hosting of this year’s ASEAN Tourism Forum. He said: “Myanmar is pleased and honored to host the ASEAN Tourism Forum after joining ASEAN 18 years ago. The ASEAN Tourism Forum 2015 takes place at an important juncture as the year 2015 marks an important milestone for the ASEAN Economic Community, which will be celebrated at the end of this year. The ASEAN member states are about to enter a very exciting period of development in the ongoing evolution of the regional community. Through our regional strength, we are able to maintain and promote ‘peace, prosperity and partnership’ in the region.”

The Myanmar president added: “I am pleased to note that the ASEAN Tourism Sector has seen considerable positive growth in the consecutive years. This reflects the growth potential and attractiveness of ASEAN as a multi-faceted single tourist destination for both international tourists and ASEAN nationals. This intra-regional travel growth is significant and also supports the theme of ‘ASEAN for ASEAN.’”

According to President Thein Sein, 2012 marked a tourism milestone for Myanmar, as the country welcomed over a million tourists for the first time. “We saw another milestone with visitor numbers reaching 2.04 million in 2013 with an increase of 93.04 percent. Last year, we received over 3 million visitors with an increase of 51 percent. If we continuously maintain the existing growth rate, we expect to receive nearly 4.5 million visitors in 2015. If we can promote more peace, stability and relaxation of travel restrictions for both international and regional tourists, the arrivals in 2105 can increase up to 5 million.”

While the Myanmar president welcomes tourism as a “driving engine for economic growth,” he also pointed out that “it has been associated with the various negative impacts on culture, nature and socioeconomic condition of the host country.” In addressing this concern, President Thein Sein said: “’Myanmar Responsible Tourism Policy’ and ‘Policy on Community Involvement in Tourism’ have been successfully adopted with the close collaboration of international development partners to achieve equitable economic growth and environmental and cultural sustainability.”

Further, the president said: “The Ministry of Hotels and Tourism has adopted the ‘Myanmar Tourism Master Plan (2013-2020)’ with assistance from the government of Norway and the Asian Development Bank.” Such plan, according to him, “is a roadmap for the sustainable development of Myanmar tourism” and “will maximize tourism contribution to national employment and income generation while ensuring the social and economic benefits of tourism are distributed equitably.”

The Myanmar president also acknowledged that “with the technical and financial of development partners, Myanmar has many projects fir tourism development, including human resource, destination planning and management, economic empowerment of low-income people and women through income generation, job creation and poverty reduction by promoting micro, small- and medium-sized enterprises.”

About the author

Avatar of Nell Alcantara

Nell Alcantara

Share to...