Govt Pledges To Continue Supporting Tourism Initiatives, Says MoF

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 17 (Bernama) -- The government is committed to intensify further plans, preparations and implementation of various initiatives to attract more tourists to Malaysia, Ministry of Finance (MoF) said. The initiatives would support the existing 11th Malaysia Plan, which has set a focus to attract high-yield tourists to further increase the tourism industry's contribution to the economy. "The tourism industry is the second biggest foreign exchange earning sector, contributing to the current account surplus. "As a beautiful tropical country, Malaysia has many unique and interesting products that offer great experiences for tourists," MoF said in a statement Wednesday. Deputy Finance Minister Othman Aziz chaired the focus group on the tourism industry Wednesday where important stakeholders including industries, professional organisations, chambers of commerce, non-government organisations and government agencies were invited to share their views and to provide inputs. MoF said the government was hopeful that this segment would successfully emerge as one of the new sources of growth for the tourism industry. This, eventually, could benefit local entrepreneurs and the people in terms of providing various job opportunities and have other spillover effect on the local economy, it noted. Meanwhile, MoF said the ministry would further engage with relevant stakeholders to solicit inputs for consideration in preparation for the 2017 Budget, which is scheduled to be tabled in Parliament on October 21. Prime Minister Najib Razak chaired the 2017 Budget consultation on June 16. A series of focus group meetings is scheduled, throughout this month, with smaller groups to obtain views and recommendations on specific topics. The first focus group meeting on 'Cost of Living' was chaired by Second Finance Minister Johari Abdul Ghani on August 1. -- BERNAMA