Tourism authorities from the six countries of the Greater Mekong sub-region (GMS)

met in Ho Chi Minh City on March 30 to discuss strategies to encourage investment

in the region and develop tourism. More than 150 representatives from Cambodia, Viet

Nam, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Yunnan Province in China attended the second annual

Mekong tourism investment forum. Representatives discussed strategies to create sustainable

tourism, especially for small- and medium-sized companies that operate in the private

sector, local media reported. In 2005, the GMS received more than 20.5 million visitors,

accounting for 11 percent of the total number of tourist arrivals in the Asia-Pacific

region. The figure is expected to grow to 50 million by 2015.