New Delhi: Malaysia on September 4 offered to move the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) to extend to India the facilities under the proposed Tourism Promotion Agreement to be signed by the member countries in the near future.

Stating that the signing of the agreement would give a boost to tourism across Asia, Malaysian Minister of Works Seri S Samy Vellu said it was imperative that intra-ASEAN tourism be promoted along with the inflow of tourists from other parts of the globe.

Addressing the second India-ASEAN Business Summit, he said tourist arrivals had increased by over 11 per cent in the past two years and the full growth potential still remained to be tapped.

Besides launching campaigns like 'Malaysia - Truly Asia' and 'Malaysia - My Second Home', the country was also projecting health tourism as a major attraction, Vellu said.

Tourism Minister Jagmohan, who made a presentation on the tourism in India, said several new initiatives had been taken by the government to sell Indian tourism abroad as also make tourism a major contributor to economic growth at the grass-root level.

In his presentation, he spoke of the establishment and improvement of tourism infrastructure at different historic sites including Kumbhalgarh, Kurukshetra and Qila Rai Pithora, and also about the new tourist circuits launched in various parts of the country.

FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) President A C Muthiah pointed out that while India to ASEAN tourist traffic was over 7.6 lakh per year, the reverse was merely 1.4 lakh. He asked the Indian tourism industry to take steps to increase tourism inflow.

PTI