The Hindu Business Line : SASEC countries get ADB grant to promote tourism

THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) has sanctioned a $450,000 technical assistance grant to develop a tourism plan for four countries belonging to the South Asian Sub-regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC), says an official communiqué.

The grant will be used to make a tourism development plan for the region for a 10-year period beginning this year, the release says. This plan will help increase foreign exchange earnings, create more jobs, promote overall economic growth and reduce rural poverty in the four countries, the release adds.

Besides India, the other nations are Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. In fact, the SASEC's tourism working group has identified the need for a sub-regional tourism master plan, with ecotourism and Buddhist-based tourism as common themes around which the plan should revolve, the release states.

In an effort to boost the participatory nature of the project, all stakeholders in the tourism industry including the public and private sectors, will be involved in developing the framework of the plan, the release adds. National workshops will also be held in each of the four SASEC countries as part of the exercise.

The technical assistance initiative will be executed by the ADB over the next six months.

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