ISLAMABAD    -    Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) Ehsan-ur-Rehman Mazari on Tues­day said a National Tourism E-portal was going to be launched to provide infor­mation and facilitation to foreign and domestic tour­ists on one click. Address­ing to the 11th session of Islamic Conference of Tour­ism Ministers (ICTM- June 27-29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, the minister said it should be a matter for collective pride that increasing num­ber of ministers were par­ticipating in the Intra-OIC cooperation for Tourism, said a press release issued here. He said tourism was a mainstay of our economies and most important source of generating valuable for­eign exchange, economic growth and employment in OIC Member States. The theme of the session was Role of local communities in tourism development. He said unfortunately, there were several challenges impeding growth and de­velopment of this vital sec­tor ranging from lack of peace and stability, weak infrastructural base, weak/nonexistent regulations and standards. The Min­ister said the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 led to significant losses in Tourism sector in the OIC Member States in­cluding Pakistan viz-a-viz tourism receipts, employ­ment in tourism sector. In post COVID scenario, ow­ing to immense challenges faced by nascent tourism sector of OIC Countries, there is a need to facilitate knowledge and technology transfers and offer techni­cal assistance for capacity building in member States to increase preparedness for future shocks that could hamper course of devel­opment in Tourism due to natural calamities or armed conflicts. The global Tour­ism market was all set to be more competitive in post Covid-19 Scenario, owing to new technological advanc­es, new health and safety regulations, hence it is im­perative that OIC Member States take necessary steps that promote Tourism.

Security forces pip two terrorists in North Waziristan