MALAYSIA WELCOMES SHENZHEN TO INVEST IN TOURISM

From Choy Wen Feei

SHENZHEN, Aug 27 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian tourism minister has proposed to
set up a consortium between the country and the Shenzhen Tourism Board to study
ways and strategies to promote bilateral tourism industries.

At the same time, Dr Ng Yen Yen has also requested assistance from the
Tourism Administration of Shenzhen Municipality to get investors of Shenzhen's
major theme parks to visit Malaysia.

She said this would enable them to look into possibilities of investing in
similar areas in Malaysia.

"They should invest in Malaysia's tourism industry as the country has great
investment potential.

"Apart from having fascinating tourist attractions, Malaysia has also
liberalised its foreign investment regulations.

"We have liberalised our investment climate, and now we allow foreign
participation investment of 100 per cent in six sectors, which includes the
tourism industry," she said at a meeting with the officers of Tourism
Administration of Shenzhen Municipality Thursday.

Meanwhile, Tourism Administration of Shenzhen Municipality director Li
Xiao Gan described Shenzhen as a dynamic city as it had the highest GDP per
capita in China, amounting to US$13,000.

He said, Shenzhen was the primary exit point for people in the Mainland when
they were going to South East Asia's countries, and they would seek assistance
from the tour operators here.

According to them, 71,000 Shenzhen tourists visited Malaysia in 2007. Last
year however, the number dropped to 68,000.

Li said, he would study the issues and proposals discussed during the
meeting to enable both parties to collaborate in the near future.
-- BERNAMA