India Coperates With ASEAN Countries

India and ASEAN member states made history on January 12 by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will lead to cooperation on several levels to boost each other’s tourism business. Areas of cooperation include human resource, technology transfers, infrastructure development, bilateral investments in the tourism and hospitality sector, full liberalisation for airlines to increase flights and mutual marketing campaigns. An office for monitoring its future has been set up by ASEAN in Mumbai. The MoU’s biggest allure is the potential for air liberalisation. Indian private airlines, thus far constrained by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation from flying many of the available international routes, may now break free from the shackles. The promotion of Buddhist pilgrimage tours will also be significant in the mutual exchange, and a highlight in the bilateral partnership this year is an ASEAN-India car rally that will run from Batam to New Delhi. Cooperation will also manifest in areas such as cruise development along the Indian coastline and parts of ASEAN, and tourism flow enhancements. With 4.5 million Indians travelling to ASEAN in 2010, the growth in bilateral tourism is expected to be exponential. The region is expecting 107 million global arrivals by 2015.