Tourism Spearheads Lancang-Mekong River Economic CooperationTourism has become a leading industry pioneering the regional economic cooperation among the countries along the Lancang-Mekong River, according to sources at the Kunming Export Trade Fair Friday in Kunming.Over 1.01 million overseas tourists visited southwest China's Yunnan Province last year, where the source of the Mekong rises. The river flows across the border and runs through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The section in China is known as the Lancang River. Thailand has become the largest source country for overseas tourists visiting Yunnan. The number of Thai tourists bound for Yunnan reached 77,400 last year. According to the Thai Consulate in this capital of Yunnan, over 123,000 Chinese received visas from the consulate to go to Thailand last year. Every day, people queue up at the customs on the borders of province with Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam. Since the first high-level Lancang-Mekong River Tourism Development Symposium was held in Kunming in 1994, six countries along the river have teamed up for the joint development. Cross-border cooperation has also seen positive effects on projects regarding communications, energy, telecommunications, environment, human resources, trade development and investment. |
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