Colombo, Jul 7 (PTI) Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe has prompt making the BIMSTEC area, comprising the seven member nations, one “borderless” tourism space.

He was talking on the opening ceremony of the 67th annual conference of the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) — considered one of India’s oldest travel-related associations — on the historic Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BIMCH) right here on Thursday.

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The theme of the TAAI conference this yr is ‘Transcending Borders, Transforming Lives’.

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional grouping that includes India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan.

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In his tackle, Wickremesinghe additionally spoke of the restoration the cash-strapped island nation has been making because the financial disaster final yr.

“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 mentioned.

And one of many methods of elevating a fund which isn’t debt-creating is tourism. So, exploit it to the fullest, he mentioned.

Wickremesinghe additionally spoke about a number of initiatives, together with seven golf programs and extra resorts, deliberate by his authorities to assist pace up Sri Lanka’s restoration from the 2022 disaster. Some legal guidelines can be modified to accommodate the plans for the tourism sector, he mentioned.

In April 2022, Sri Lanka declared its first-ever debt default, the worst financial disaster since its independence from Britain in 1948, triggered by foreign exchange shortages that sparked public protests.

Months-long avenue protests led to the ouster of the then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa in mid-July final yr.

In the subsequent 10 years, the per capita earnings of individuals will enhance and they’re going to journey round, he mentioned.

“So, why don’t we make our whole BIMSTEC area one borderless tourism (region)… that’s what you want… transcending borders,” he mentioned.

Sri Lankans travelling to India, Indians travelling to Bangladesh, it is “one tourist area” for anybody coming from exterior, the president mentioned.

“In 10 years, you will have a new industry. So, we will have to arrange our connectivity as well,” Wickremesinghe mentioned, including, “My idea is that BIMSTEC should be one big tourist area… Why don’t we open BIMSTEC? Why don’t we use the Bay of Bengal for cruise?”

The opening ceremony was attended by a number of different dignitaries, together with High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Gopal Bagley; Sri Lanka’s Minister of Tourism and Lands Harin Fernando; Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation Nimal Siripala De Silva; and Chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) Chalaka Gajabahu.

De Silva later mentioned Wickremesinghe’s thought will increase tourism within the BIMSTEC area.

Addressing the gathering, Bagley mentioned as introduced by Alliance Air, every day flights can be accessible between Jaffna in Sri Lanka and Chennai in India beginning July 16.

He additionally highlighted the historic and cultural ties between India and Sri Lanka, and described the 2 nations as “civilisational twins”.

The opening ceremony of the conference additionally noticed a number of dazzling performances by Sri Lankan artistes.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff could not have modified or edited the content material physique)