The 4th ECO Ministerial Meeting on Tourism preceded by the 5th High Level Experts Group (HLEG) on Tourism was held on 12-13 December, 2022 in virtual mode. The Meetings were hosted by the Tourism and Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Delegations from the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Republic of Tajikistan, the Republic of Türkiye, Turkmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan (Host), as well as the delegation of ECO Secretariat attended the Meetings.
The Meeting was inaugurated by H.E Mr. Aziz Abdulhakimov, Deputy Minister and Minister of Tourism and Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Uzbekistan. In his inaugural statement, he highlighted the potentials and progress of the Republic of Uzbekistan in Tourism Sector under the leadership of the H.E. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. He highlighted on mutual beneficial cooperation among the Member States in tourism sector.
H.E Mr. Aziz Abdulhakimov, Deputy Minister and Minister of Tourism and Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Uzbekistan was elected as Chairman of the 4th ECO Ministerial Meeting on Tourism. He highlighted the achievement of the Republic of Uzbekistan during the last few years in tourism sector through introducing new policies by their Government. Also he has stressed the holding of exhibitions, fairs, forums, and conferences, seminars with the participation of representatives of the private and public sectors in the ECO framework and emphasized on creation of special ECO-tourism investment chain between the Member States, attracting investment in the tourism infrastructure including roads, hotels and hostels etc.
In his opening statement ECO Secretary General, H.E. Mr. Khusrav Noziri highlighted that the Tourism sector was placed among one of the ECO’s important areas of interest, prioritized for development under the ECO Vision-2025. He underscored that home to 74 UNESCO registered World Heritage Sites; ECO region has diverse tourism potential. He underlined that the accessibility of the ECO region is the primary requirement for promoting tourism to and within the region and the development of the tourism industry throughout the region needs intra-regional and international connectivity through all modes of transportation in order to ensure comfortable, cheaper accessible and safe travel in the ECO Region.
He further stressed the importance of embarking on joint tourism programme to provide the ECO region a more attractive, competitive and powerful product image as a tourism destination and to highlight the attractiveness and variety of the ECO tourism experience.
The Secretary General highlighted that the simplification of border crossing procedures for foreign tourists, easing and liberalization of visa regimes will support development of the tourism industry throughout the region. He also mentioned that the development and implementation of harmonized service quality and environmental standards aligned with international best practices are key to raising the competitiveness of the region as a global tourism destination, and attracting tourists from international markets.
He also assured that the ECO Secretariat will extend every possible support to implement the decision of this Meeting.
During the Meeting, the Ministers/Heads of delegates from the Member States delivered their statements/presentations.
Main decisions are as follows:
• adoption of “Draft Road Map on Facilitating Accelerated Recovery, Safe and Sustainable Development of Tourism after Covid-19 in the ECO region”
• Selecting the city of Shahrisabz as ECO Tourism Capital for the years 2024-2025 as well as the cities of …… for the years 2025 and 2026 respectively.
The Samarkand Declaration on Tourism Cooperation was adopted and released.