WTO Conference Scheduled for October in Beijing

ZHU LIZHEN / People's Daily (Beijing) 3jul03

Secretary-general of World Tourism Organization (WTO) Francesco Frangialli announced in Paris on Tuesday that the World Tourism Organization Conference will be held in Beijing on October 19 as scheduled.

Mr. Frangialli said in an interview with AFP that in view of the World Health Organization (WHO) removing Beijing from the list of SARS-affected areas and lifting the travel advisory, "we hope and confirm that the World Tourism Organization Conference will take place in Beijing on schedule."

The General-secretary also noted that the impending conference "is of historic significance", because its participants will discuss and decide on its conversion into a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN). As learned, the UN has given all "green lights" necessary for the WTO to become a specialized agency. Like the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the WTO will carry out activities within the UN framework in the future.

The tourism official added that an international agreement will be signed at the conference in Beijing, declaring that the international community has affirmed that the present tourism industry, like industry, agriculture, education, science and transportation, has become part of the important human production activities. This signals an important change in people's understanding of the tourism sector.

According to Mr. Frangialli, to hold the WTO conference in Beijing as planned is an expression of support for China's tourism industry as well as for that of SARS-affected Asian countries such as Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia. He forecasts that the international tourism industry will obviously take a turn for the better, the Asian tourism industry, in particular, will witness "a highly vigorous development".

source: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200307/03/eng20030703_119396.shtml 3jul03