On the 14th of July, the first «Tourism Malaysia» presentation-seminar was held at the «Archabil» hotel in the capital, organised jointly by the Agency of the Ministry of tourism, arts and culture of Malaysia and the Embassy of Malaysia in Turkmenistan.
The event served as an official platform for leading representatives of tourism industry and media of Turkmenistan, where tourism potential of Malaysia was presented in detail, focusing on current routes, logistics solutions, and a calendar of key cultural events.
The presentation was attended by the leadership of the tourism Department of the Ministry of culture of Turkmenistan, director of the tourism Malaysia Almaty Representative Office Nor Shazli Azmi, as well as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Malaysia to Turkmenistan Mohd Suhaimi Bin Ahmad Tajuddin, who joined the meeting via videoconference.
Opening the event, deputy head of the tourism Department of the Ministry of Culture of Turkmenistan, Gulshat Bakiyeva, emphasised the strategic importance of developing partnerships between the countries.
«President Serdar Berdimuhamedov is focusing his attention on expanding international tourism. One of the key vectors here is cooperation with Malaysia. The launch of direct flights between Ashgabat and Kuala Lumpur is clear evidence that Turkmenistan views culture and tourism as crucial factors in bringing our peoples closer together. To date, more than 220 cooperation contracts have been signed between Turkmen and Malaysian tourism companies, and the flow of tourists from Malaysia to Turkmenistan has increased severalfold compared to previous years», – said G. Bakiyeva.
In his video message, Ambassador Mohd Suhaimi Bin Ahmad Tajuddin emphasised that the event reflects the strong friendship and shared commitment of the countries to the qualitative growth of bilateral relations.
The head of the diplomatic mission reminded that the recent official visit of Malaysian prime-minister Anwar Ibrahim to Turkmenistan, which took place several weeks earlier, gave a powerful impetus to this process. During high-level intergovernmental talks, issues of cooperation in the fields of culture and tourism were placed at the forefront of the bilateral thematic agenda.
The presentation concluded with a question-and-answer session, during which participants discussed future plans of «Tourism Malaysia» in Central Asian countries and how tourism products of Malaysia can be adapted to the needs of travelers from Turkmenistan.
The organisers and participants expressed their mutual willingness to continue their active collaboration to make Malaysia an even more accessible, popular, and understandable destination for Turkmen tourists.
