SCO Meeting: First SCO tourism ministerial meeting held in Wuhan, China

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02:48

The first tourism ministerial meeting between member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has taken place in Wuhan, the capital city of Central China's Hubei province. The meeting approved an action plan that will serve as a guideline for tourism cooperation between SCO member states in the coming years. CGTN's Xu Mengqi has more.

The first ministerial meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organization members was held in the Chinese city of Wuhan.And all eyes were on tourism.

ALPHONS JOSEPH KANNANTHANAM MINISTER OF STATE FOR TOURISM, REPUBLIC OF INDIA "When people keep traveling, I think that brings the world closer and builds better understanding of each other. And of course in the long term there'll be much more employment created in each country and all the countries concerned, much more revenue from tourism. We believe tourism is the future."

The meeting approved an action plan that will serve as a guideline for tourism cooperation between SCO member states from the year 2019 to 2020.

It is now the second action plan initiated to further implement the SCO Tourism Cooperation Programme inked by the heads of the member states during the 16th SCO Summit two years ago.

XU MENGQI WUHAN, HUBEI "The joint action plan specifies cooperation among the national tourism administrations, as well as measures the member states could take to improve tourist experience and safety, develop tourist products and promote smart tourism."

AZIZ ABDUKHAKIMOV, CHAIRMAN STATE COMMITTEE FOR TOURISM DEVELOPMENT, REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN"During the session we discussed many important issues about mutual cooperation in different areas, especially how we can develop national tourism products and infrastructure."

Delegates agreed on the progress made in tourism cooperation between SCO member countries, and many believe with policies making travel more convenient, the future is even brighter.

NIKOLAY KOROLEV, DEPUTY HEAD THE FEDERAL AGENCY FOR TOURISM, RUSSIAN FEDERATION "Russia attaches great importance to tourism cooperation with other SCO member states, because we have an increasing number of tourists from these countries. There is more potential and the prospects are great."

NUMON ABDU GHAFFORZODA, CHAIRMAN COMMITTEE ON THE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT, REPUBLIC OF TAJIKISTAN "We provide great conditions for tourists, as we created an electronic visa system in Tajikistan and it's very easy to get a visa and visit our country."

The joint action plan will be submitted for official inking at the upcoming 18th SCO Summit hosted by the Chinese city of Qingdao. Member states say they are confident that the implementation of the plan will contribute to further tourism development in their respective countries. Xu Mengqi, CGTN, Wuhan, Hubei province.