A Myanmar delegation led by Deputy Minister for Hotels and Tourism U Phyo Zaw Soe attended the 26th UN Tourism General Assembly held in Saudi Arabia from 7 to 10 November.

Minister for Tourism of Saudi Arabia Mr Ahmed Al-Khatib led the assembly, and the event focused on ongoing and completed projects of 2024-2025, human resources and financial status of UN Tourism, full memberships of 161 countries and joint members by 497 countries for UN Tourism, approval to appoint Ms Shaikha AI Nowais from the UAE as secretary general of UN Tourism from 2026 to 2029 and other tourism related matters.

The Myanmar delegation also attended another four meetings associated with the general assembly and observed the ongoing cooperation in promoting the tourism industry among UN member states.

The delegation also attended the opening ceremony of the 26th UN Tourism General Assembly, the 50th anniversary of UN Tourism and the Grand Final of the UN Tourism Artificial Intelligence Challenge.

The Deputy Minister and party also attended the TOURISE discussion held by the Ministry of Tourism of Saudi Arabia from 11 to 13 November at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Centre, and observed the challenges and hardships of governments and private sectors in promoting the global tourism industry amid the ongoing global political, economic, social and technological issues.

During the general assembly, the deputy minister met with the minister and deputy minister for Tourism of Saudi Arabia and discussed cooperation between the two countries and peoples, and the potential to cooperate in the tourism industry.

Similarly, he met with the officials from industry sectors of Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, India and Uganda and discussed bilateral cooperation in tourism, drafting an MoU for bilateral cooperation and market promotion, signing of approved MoU, extension of expired joint projects, amendment of prolonged MoU and holding of bilateral coordination meetings.

He also met ministers and representatives from other countries and discussed tourism development measures for Myanmar. The 27th UN Tourism General Assembly will be held in the Dominican Republic in 2027.

MNA/KTZH

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