President Asif Ali Zardari said that Thailand serves as a role model for many developing countries for development of tourism industry and Pakistan can promote its tourism industry on similar lines. This he said during his meeting with a delegation of Thai media scholars here at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Wednesday.
The President said that the major impediment in our way remained the scourge of militancy and the war against militancy, which have adversely affected our tourism industry. He added that our economy could not take advantage of our natural tourism potential.
He said that once the war against militancy is brought to its logical conclusion, Pakistan would be in much better position to develop its tourism industry on modern lines. Discussing Pak-Thai relations, the President said that Pakistan and Thailand enjoy cordial relations, however, there was a need to further strengthen our ties through increased trade and economic co-operation.
Pakistan, the President said, is the cradle of Buddhist civilisation and naturally it should attract the tourists interested in studying the Buddhist civilisation. The President while appreciating the progress of Thai media said that frequent exchanges of the media persons of the two countries were important for not only learning from each other's experiences but also for maximum utilisation of mutual co-operation in the field of information.
The delegation included Kusuma Yodhasamutr, Programme Host/Producer Channel-5 TV, Ms Eling-on Siripanit, "Diplomat in Siam" Programme Channel-5 TV/NIDA, Pramote Meckum, Producer Channel-5 TV, Imtiaz Muqbil, Columnist in "Bangkok Post" and Executive Editor The Travel Impact Newswire, Phoowadon Duangmee, Assistant Editor/Travel Journalist The Nation, Peerasit Somkaew, Columnist Daily News and Maqsudul Hasan Nuri, President IPRI.-PR