Mexico City (VNA) – Tourism ministers from Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies have agreed to develop strategies that will allow about 800 million tou൩rists to travel across the region in 2025.

Peru’s Foreign Trade and Tourism Minister Magali Silva made the statement at the 9th APEC Tourism Ministerial Meeting held in Lima, the capital city of Peru, on May 28-29. Peru and other APEC economies, including Vietnam, jointly issued the Declaration of Lima on the occasion. The declaration recognised that tourism contributed 1.2 trillion USD to GDP, created 48 million jobs and accounted for 5.5 percent of APEC exports last year. Silva said Asia-Pacific is the world’s largest air transport market with the flow of people – whether for business or tourism – crucial to boosting economic growth, trade and integration within the bloc. The APEC tourism ministers agreed to enhance air connectivity and travel facilitation as well as to cut costs. They also plan to develop tourism programmes and share information. Tourism growth will not only stimulate trade, investment and job generation but also pave the way for the expansion of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and help them gain access to global markets and value chains. Founded in 1989, APEC comprises of 21 member economies, including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. It represents a market of 2.5 billion consumers and accounts for 47 percent of global trade.-VNA