PRESS RELEASES

The Meeting of ASEAN Plus Three (China, Japan and ROK) Tourism Ministers

February 13, 2014

    The 13th Meeting of ASEAN Plus Three (China, Japan and ROK) Tourism Ministers (M-ATM+3) was held on 20 January, 2014, in Kuching, Malaysia. From Japan, H.E. Tsuyoshi TAKAGI, Senior Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan, led the delegation to attend the meeting, and other participants included Mr. Ryoichi MATSUYAMA, President of Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), and other officials from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan, the Mission of Japan to ASEAN, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and the JNTO. From the ASEAN side, H.E. Dato Seri Mohamed Nazri Tan Sri Abdul Aziz, Minister of Tourism and Culture of Malaysia, and other ASEAN Tourism Ministers as well as ASEAN National Tourism Organisation (NTO) Leaders attended the meeting, together with other officials from relevant ministries and NTOs as well as the ASEAN Secretariat. China and ROK also attended the meeting at ministerial level. The Ministers Meeting was preceded by the 24th Meeting of ASEAN Plus Three NTO Leaders held on 18 January.

    The Minister Meeting noted the updates on the ASEAN Plus Three (APT) Tourism Performance in 2012/2013, including those of annual APT Visitor Arrivals in 2012/2013, as well as the progress in ASEAN Tourism Development in 2012/2013. The meeting also discussed the implementation of APT Cooperation Work Plan for Tourism 2012-2017, including the progress made, as well as the draft Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) on APT Tourism Cooperation. In addition, the Meeting congratulated Japan on its first-time achievement of over 10 million annual Visitor Arrivals. It also welcomed Japan’s initiative to look into concluding a regional Air Services Agreement between Japan and ASEAN, recently announced at the ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit in Tokyo and the 11th ASEAN-Japan Transport Ministers Meeting in Pakse, Lao PDR in last December.

    It is expected that as ASEAN continues to develop further, our ties with ASEAN and related mutual cooperation in the tourism sector will be strengthened further.