KUCHING, April 11: Malaysia welcomes Chinese investment and collaboration to build new cultural attractions, beach getaways, ecological marvels and other assets in efforts to grow the tourism pie and create shared economic benefits.
Federal Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture (Motac) Dato Sri Tiong King Sing conveyed this to the Minister of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China Hu Heping during a bilateral session to discuss tourism cooperation between Malaysia and China in China yesterday (April 10).
Tiong said Malaysia and China are expected to discuss further on signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on cultural and tourism cooperation which will pave the way for deeper and more frequent exchanges and cooperation to build the two countries’ respective tourism business.
“Malaysia and China’s warm bilateral relationship continues from strength to strength on the back of our long-standing ties.
“The upcoming year 2024 will mark a historic 50th year of diplomatic relations between us while 2025 will be our much-awaited Visit Malaysia Year. This represents a ‘golden cross’ of timely opportunities to launch our cultural and tourism exchanges to new heights,” he said in a statement shared on his Facebook page yesterday.
With Chinese capital increasing interested in investing in foreign tourism in recent years, Tiong emphasised that there is much potential and opportunities for growth in Malaysian tourism.
“We very much welcome investment capital to flow in to build new cultural attractions, beach getaways, ecological marvels, and other assets with great possibilities for development and return.
“This is also an opportunity for domestic tourism operators to scale and learn from their counterparts overseas. Together, we will surely make the tourism pie bigger and more lucrative for all concerned,” he said.
Noting that China already has the Chinese Cultural Centre established to strengthen ties with Malaysia, which also acts as another platform for bilateral exchanges, Tiong believed both sides can work well together in mutual support to build the policies, pool the resources, and promote each other’s programmes for maximum gains.
“This win-win spirit will see a series of popular cultural and tourism activities under Malaysia-China friendship,” he added. — DayakDaily
