Acting Minister of Trade and Industry, Arbëresha Krasniqi, with the initiative of the Embassy of the Republic of Kosovo in Japan signed the Memorandum of Cooperation in Tourism with the Commissioner of the Japanese Tourism Agency, Tabata Hiroshi.
Through this agreement, Kosovo and Japan have expressed the desire to expand friendly relations between the citizens of both countries to facilitate the economic development and increase tourism potential in both countries. The agreement aims to develop a mutual exchange of information, experiences and knowledge in the field of tourism by increasing the number of tourists between the two countries, direct contacts between the relevant tourism authorities and participation in tourism fairs in both countries.
On this occasion, acting Minister Krasniqi said that Kosovo is interested through this agreement to increase the number of Japanese tourists in Kosovo as a prerequisite for attracting Japanese investments in tourism and in other areas of interest for the country's economy.
During the visit to Japan, the acting Minister participated together with representatives of a number of countries from all continents in the Second Ministerial Meeting on Tourism, with the topic: "Sustainable tourism management for development of community", organized by World Tourism Organization. On this occasion Ms Krasniqi meet with senior state tourism officials from various countries such as Bhutan, Cambodia, Iceland, Indonesia, Myanmar and Thailand, with whom she discussed about possible bilateral cooperation in the field of tourism.
All of these activities have been conducted in the light of the world's largest tourism fair "Japan Tourism EXPO 2018", which is being held in Tokyo from 20 to 23 September 2018. Kosovo is being represented for the third time in this fair, but for the first time under the umbrella of the Kosovo Investment and Enterprise Support Agency – KIESA. In addition to promoting Kosovo as a tourism destination, various tourist packages for Kosovo are also being promoted.
At this fair is also participating a Kosovo tourist agency which is presenting its tourist packages in Kosovo. The Kosovo's stand was solemnly opened by the acting Minister of MTI, Arbëresha Krasniqi and Kosovo ambassador in Japan, Leon Malazogu.
Tourism is a priority of the Ministry of Trade and Industry and of the Embassy of the Republic of Kosovo in Japan. Recently, the Ministry of Trade and Industry has transformed the Division of Tourism into Department of Tourism and regularly facilitates the participation of Kosovo tourism operators in world tourism fairs with the aim of promoting Kosovo tourism potentials.
