On 8 June 2016, H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping, Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) attended the 2nd ASEAN-Korea Tourism Development Forum in Seoul, Korea upon invitation. The Forum was hosted by the ASEAN-Korea Centre (AKC) and participated by more than 100 people including H.E. Mr. Kim Young-sun, AKC Secretary-General, H.E. Mas Ermieyati Samsudin, Deputy Minister of Tourism and Culture of Malaysia, H.E. Mr. Benito C. Bengzon, Jr., Under Secretary of the Department of Tourism of the Philippines, Mr. Sounh Manivong, Director General of Tourism Development Department of the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism of Lao PDR, as well as diplomats of ASEAN Member States in Korea and relevant officials of tourism authorities of ASEAN and Korea.
AKC Secretary-General Kim Young-sun said in his speech that the ASEAN-Korea Tourism Development Workshop on Ecotourism, under the theme of “Wonders of ASEAN Ecotourism: Developing Ecotourism Cluster Packages”, was held to implement the ASEAN Tourism Strategic Plan 2016-2025, promote ecotourism in ASEAN and enhance tourism cooperation between ASEAN and Korea. He emphasized that against the backdrop of the rapid development of global ecotourism, ASEAN and Korea should grasp the opportunity to realize sustainable tourism development by properly addressing the relations between economic development and environmental protection.
H.E. Mas Ermieyati Samsudin, H.E. Mr. Benito C. Bengzon, Jr., Mr. Sounh Manivong and other scholars delivered remarks. They said the development of ecotourism would benefit the increase of employment and social economic development, and would enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the peoples. They also introduced the major objectives of the ASEAN Tourism Strategic Plan 2016-2025 and the initiatives taken by their countries, expected to share more information and experiences through this Forum, so as to further boost ASEAN-Korea tourism cooperation. Expert from Seoul National University briefed on the efforts and successful cases of Korea in ecotourism development.
Secretary-General Yang communicated with the ASEAN participants and introduced ACC’s work in pushing forward ASEAN-China tourism exchanges and cooperation. She said that ACC would attend the ASEAN Ecotourism Forum to be held in Lao PDR later this month.