‘KP govt wants to benefit from Nepali expertise to boost tourism’

PESHAWAR: Adviser to Chief Minister on Tourism Abdul Munim Khan has said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is interested in benefitting from the expertise of Nepal to boost tourism in the province. He was talking to Nepali Ambassador to Pakistan, Sewa Lamsal Adhikari, during her visit to the Tourism Corporation KP (TCKP) here Wednesday.

Secretary Sports, Tourism, Archaeology, Museums, Culture and Youth Affairs Mohammad Tariq, TCKP Managing Director Mushtaq Ahmed Khan and other officials were also present.

"Nepal has made tremendous progress in the tourism industry, particularly tourism planning and policy in the mountainous areas. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is keen on taking advantage of its experiments in this sector," the advisor told the visiting envoy.

He said the KP government wanted to launch joint ventures with the Nepali government for the promotion of tourism in the hilly areas to attract foreign tourists to the province. The Nepali ambassador praised the provincial government for the tangible measures taken for the promotion of tourism. She said that the landscape and mountains of Nepal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had many similarities.

The envoy said Nepal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa could benefit from each other's expertise by launching joint ventures to boost tourism in the mountain ranges. "There are broad prospects for launching joint projects for the promotion of culture, tourism and heritage," the envoy said.

She said the development and preservation of heritage and archaeological sites in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa having Gandhara civilization and Buddhist relics could lure more tourists to the province.

Earlier, Secretary Tourism, Archaeology, Museums, Culture and Youth Affairs Mohammad Tariq briefed the envoy on various projects being executed for the promotion of tourism in the province.

He said KP government recently held a roadshow in China in which different projects regarding culture, tourism and archaeology were displayed. The official said the provincial government had signed several memorandums of understanding with Chinese and South Korean governments for joint ventures in tourism, culture, museums, archaeology and heritage sectors.