Colombo: Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe has suggested making the BIMSTEC region, comprising the seven member nations, one “borderless” tourism area.
He was speaking at the opening ceremony of the 67th annual convention of the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) – one of India’s oldest travel-related associations – at the historic Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BIMCH) on Thursday.
The theme of the TAAI convention this year is ‘Transcending Borders, Transforming Lives’.
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional grouping that comprises India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan.
In his address, President Wickremesinghe also spoke of the recovery the cash-strapped island nation has been making since the economic crisis last year.
“We are trying to make tourism new and make more use of the potential. We faced bankruptcy in Sri Lanka (and) now that we are getting out of it, the debt restructuring process is taking place. We still have to remember that the balance of trade is not in our favour. So, we have to ensure a positive balance of trade in the times to come,” he said.
And one of the ways of raising a fund which is not debt-creating is tourism. So, exploit it to the fullest, he said.
President Wickremesinghe also spoke about several projects, including seven golf courses and more resorts, planned by his government to help speed up Sri Lanka’s recovery from the 2022 crisis. Some laws will be changed to accommodate the plans for the tourism sector, he said.