By Abdullah Al-Harbi and Muhammad Al-Enezi (with photos)
KUWAIT, April 8 (KUNA) -- Visiting Syrian Minister of Tourism Sadallah Agha al-Qala called here Monday for enhancing Syrian-Kuwaiti tourist ties.
After his meeting with Acting Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Abdul-Aziz Al-Khaldi, he told KUNA the meeting dealt with ways to activate the agreement on tourist cooperation singed in 1994.
The document includes four axes namely, activation of joint investment in tourism, coordination and cooperation in tourist promotion and marketing, exchange of training experiences, and mutual scholarships and visit exchanges of students and teachers of both sides, he noted.
Al-Qala also called for more discussion and exchanges of views on tourist issues and for exploration of opportunities of tourist investment in the two countries and a third country.
Hailing the opening of Aleppo Sheraton Hotel in his country by Kuwait's Kharafi Group, the Syrian minister said the event would open the door for more tourist movement in the northern Syrian city.
Twenty-four tourist projects are offered for investment in 12 Syrian cities as part of the Syrian government efforts to promote foreign investment, he revealed.
Under the new investment-friendly legislations, a foreign investor is able to own land develop it for up to 99 years.
Foreign investors can enjoy a tax relief during period of construction of their projects, Al-Qala pointed out.
Out of estimated three million tourist coming to Syria annually, the Arabs - mainly from the Arabian Gulf area, account for 75 percent, he added.
For his part, Al-Khaledi hailed the long-standing friendly ties between Kuwait and Syria and welcomed Al-Qala in Kuwait.
In its endeavor to develop the tourism sector in Kuwait, the Kuwaiti Ministry of Commerce and Industry is keen on making use of Syria long experiences in the field of tourism, he underscored.
Al-Khaledi agreed on Al-Qala's remarks on the necessity of further developing the bilateral economic and trade ties and called for pushing their levels to those of the political and people-to-people relations.
