Gilgit - Baltistan

Pak-China regional tourism workshop concluded in Kashgar

Hunza, October 20: The cross-border regional tourism workshop between Pakistan and China on integrated tourism concepts to contribute to sustainable development in mountain regions concluded in Kashgar, China.

The workshop that had started at KIU, Gilgit was inaugurated by Engr. Sulaiman Wali, Chairman, Chief Executives Inspection Team and the Secretary Tourism Northern Areas. Around 40 delegates from Xinjiang and Tibet regions of China, Nepal and Northern Areas, Pakistan participated in the workshop and the field visit to Hunza and Kashgar.

The delegates were grouped into three thematic groups: Local communities, infrastructure and local economy and environment. Each group visited different projects, sites and stakeholders and the observations and information thus gained were shared in the plenary through group works and group presentations to formulate recommendations.

Adressing the concluding banquet dinner, head of the Pakistan delegation Mr. Abdul Sattar, Secretary Planning and Development Northern Areas thanked the local authorities in Tashkurgan and Kashgar for the hospitality and briefings made. He said the experiences and information shared were quite learning opportunity for the Pakistan delegation.

He also thanked InWent, Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the Tourism department Northern Areas and AKRSP for organizing this international workshop on this very important theme.

He assured the delegates that the present government will ensure to take necessary measures to allocate resources to develop and implement plans to materialize the recommendations made and will also take up other recommendations with the relevant competent authorities.

Mr. Sattar also said that there is a lot of scope for cross-border cooperation not only in the field of trade and commerce, but also in the fields of poverty reduction, tourism promotion, heritage conservation and natural resource management and scientific and research cooperation related to sustainable mountain development between Xinjiang and Northern Areas, Pakistan.

 

He suggested that the authorities of the concerned departments in both countries and regions should visit their counterparts in each region and develop working groups. He invited the Poverty Alleviation department of Xinjiang to visit Northern Areas to exchange exerinces.

Mr. Juergen Richter of Inwent outlined the objectives of the mountain programme and thanked both Chinese and Pakistani government and partners for the successful conclusion of the workshop.

 

Earlier President of Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences welcomed the delegates and recapped the objectives of the workshop and its successful conclusion. He stressed that there is a lot of scope for Pak-China cross border cooperation in many fields and vowed to take measures to take the recommendations to higher authorities through the government to government channels, made by experts at the workshop.
In his concluding address, the Party Leader of Kashi Prefecture welcomed and congratulated the delegates for the successful workshop. He hoped that Pak-China relations will flourish in other fields and through government to government and people to people contacts new opportunities for cooperation will open up.

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