DASTA joins forces with Mekong Institute to advance tourism in GMS

The Mekong Institute (MI), an intergovernmental organisation in Khon Kaen, promotes regional cooperation through capacity-building programmes for the countries of the GMS, namely Cambodia, China, |Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, as a GMS-based know ledge centre for policy research and recommendation services on economic integration and development disparities.

Nalikatibhag Sangsnit, director-general of DASTA, said the agency had firmed up this collaborative initiative with MI.

He said this partnership was an ideal platform from which DASTA, as a regional leader on sustainable tourism, would join with MI to advance tourism growth in the region.

MI director Watcharas Leelawath said: "The signing of this document and partnering with an important player in the tourism sector like DASTA is a significant step forward to promote tourism as a driving force for social and economic development."

The MoU provides a framework of cooperation with a |view to promoting DASTA’s successful performance on sustainable tourism, particularly community-based tourism, in the GMS.

The two organisations agreed to a cooperative rela|tionship to identify and develop programmes and activities |such as training, policy dialogues and research on sustainable tourism in the sub-region.