India and Malaysia to enhance cooperation in tourism

India and Malaysia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation in the field of tourism, the Ministry of Tourism said in a statement on Friday.

The MoU was signed on August 20, 2024, between the Minister of Tourism and Culture from India Ganjendra Singh Shekhawat, and the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture of Malaysia Y B Dato Sri Tiong King Sing.

Both countries will cooperate in the promotion and marketing of tourism products and services as part of the objective of the memorandum. Efforts will be made to expand tourism research, training, and development, including exchange programs.

As part of the objective of the MoU, India and Malaysia will encourage investment in tourism infrastructure, facilities, products and services. The information will also be exchanged in the field of medical tourism, and stakeholders will be encouraged to promote the product, the statement read.

Under the MoU, the development of business tourism which includes meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE)will be prioritised.

Promoting cooperation between tourism stakeholders, tour operators travel agents, and promotion and development of community-based tourism eco-tourism and responsible tourism are also part of the objective.

Malaysia is one of India’s important inbound tourist source markets. In the year 2022, over 2.5 lacs of Malaysian tourists visited India.

On 20 August 2024, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim visited India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. After the meeting, both leaders encouraged industry on both sides to further enhance bilateral trade sustainably for the mutual benefit of the two countries.

During the meeting, discussions were held on the entire range of bilateral cooperation including political, defence and security cooperation, economic and trade, digital technologies, startups, fintech, energy including renewables, healthcare, higher education, culture, tourism and people-to-people relations, the Prime Minister’s Office had stated.

Apart from the MoU in the field of tourism, both countries signed MoUs for cooperation in the fields of recruitment, employment and repatriation of workers; ayurveda and other traditional systems of medicines; digital technologies; culture, public administration and governance reforms; youth and sports; and financial services between Labuan Financial Services Authority (LFSA) and International Financial Services Centres Authority, India (IFSCA), as per a statement by Prime Minister’s Office.