Liew (sixth from left) Flanked by Lum (right) and Meng (left) with the Sabah delegation and Xi'an municipal government officials.
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah hopes to rekindle its tourism and cultural exchange with Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province in central China, which was derailed by Covid-19 pandemic travel restrictions.
State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew was in Xi'an to get the memorandum of understanding of friendship and cooperation signed in 2019 between Kota Kinabalu and Xi'an back on track.
"The aim is to reconnect and strengthen the government-to-government relationship between the two cities. Our visit to Xi'an is to rekindle bilateral tourism cooperation and cultural exchange," Liew said in a statement on Wednesday (July 5) after meeting with Xi'an Vice Mayor Meng Hao.
She said their discussion also touched on Xi'an's potential trade and investment exhibition in Sabah under the newly-established Sabah Convention Bureau (SCB).
The Xi'an municipal government leader also agreed to lead a delegation to visit Sabah to further discuss the enhancement of the bilateral relationship.
At the meeting with the Vice Mayor, both parties agreed to set up a joint committee between Sabah Tourism Board and tourism agencies to boost and speed up tourism activities.
"This initiative will further facilitate the exchange of ideas, information and expertise, among others, in efforts to uplift the tourism industry," Liew said.
Meng, meanwhile, called for efforts to forge tourism cooperation by coordinating with the Sabah government to promote both cities.
"Sabah has the best diving spots, beautiful islands and tropical rainforests. Both areas complement each other in terms of tourism resources," he said.
