THE SECOND MEETING OF ASEAN, CHINA, JAPAN AND KOREA TOURISM MINISTERS (2ND M-ATM+3)
24 January 2003, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

JOINT PRESS STATEMENT

The Second Meeting of the ASEAN Tourism Ministers (M-ATM+3) was held on 24 January 2003 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia  in conjunction with the Sixth Meeting of the ASEAN Tourism Ministers and the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2003 (ATF 2003). The theme of ATF 2003 is “ASEAN Unity: Ensuring a Brighter Future”.  The Meeting was chaired by H.E. Mr. Veng Sereyvuth, Senior Minister and Minister of Tourism of Cambodia.

The Ministers agreed that tourism co-operation in the ASEAN +3 framework would foster greater tourism exchange, social interaction and closer economic cohesion in East Asia. They viewed that the ASEAN + 3 tourism cooperation is very timely and endorsed the recommendations of the Second Meeting of ASEAN, China, Japan and Korea National Tourism Organisations (NTOs) held in Mandalay, Myanmar on 8-9 October 2002 to cooperate in the following areas:

• Joint Promotion and Marketing;
• Tourism Investment; and
• Manpower Development

The Ministers endorsed the establishment of an ASEAN, China, Japan and Korea Communications Team for Tourism (ACTT+3) to further enhance the exchange of accurate information on tourism safety and security in the region in order to ensure that any tourism advisory will be constructive and not unfairly adverse to the regional tourism flow. They instructed their senior officials to develop specific work plan to implement tourism cooperation between ASEAN and China, Japan and Korea.
 

LIST OF MINISTERS
The Meeting was attended by:
H.E. Pehin Dato Abdul Rahman Taib, Minister of Industry and Primary Resources, Brunei Darussalam;
H.E. Mr. Veng Sereyvuth, Senior Minister and Minister of Tourism, Cambodia;
H.E. Mr. Sapta Nirwandar, Executive Secretary to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Indonesia;
H.E. Mr. Somphong Mongkhonvilay, Minister to the Prime Minister’s Office, Lao PDR
H.E. Dato’ Paduka Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir, Minister of Culture, Arts and Tourism, Malaysia;
H.E. Brigadier General Thein Zaw, Minister of Hotels and Tourism, Myanmar;
H.E. Mr. Richard J. Gordon, Secretary of Tourism, Philippines;
H.E. Mr. Raymond Lim, Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Foreign Affairs, Singapore;
H.E. Mr. Sontaya Kunplome, Minister of Tourism and Sports, Thailand;
H.E. Mr. Pham Tu, Vice-Chairman of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, Vietnam;
H.E. Mr. Tran Duc Minh, Deputy Secretary General of ASEAN Secretariat.
H.E. Mr. Gu Zhaoxi, Vice Chairman of the China National Tourism Administration, China.
H.E. Mr. Satoshi Iwamura, Vice-Minister for Transport and International Affairs, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure & Transport, Japan; and
H.E. Mr. Kwon Kyungsang, Director General of Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Korea, Korea.