Minister of Tourism Sadallah Agha Al-qala of Syria

Kuwait, April 9 (NNN-KUNA) Visiting Syrian Minister of Tourism Sadallah Agha al-Qala has called for enhancing Syrian-Kuwaiti tourism ties.

Agha Al-Qala said Iran and Syria will sign a memorandum of understanding to facilitate travels, especially pilgrimage trips to both countries.

On the issue of investments to be pumped into the tourist sector, Al-Qala said that the total of new investments in 2006 were estimated at $2.

At the opening of the "Syrian Tourist Horizons Forum," Sadallah Agha al-Qala said the goal will guarantee bringing tourist revenues of about $ 6 billion as it targets making an increase of 9,000 new hotel beds annually in addition to earning $ 1 billion a year as an investment from the tourist sector.

Agha al-Qala discussed with the Iranian delegation new facilities offered to tourists and procedures capable of implementing tourism programs and religious visits programs according to the quality criteria.

For his part, Syrian Minister of Tourism, Sadallah Agha al-Qala has announced that the ministry has offered 123 projects for tourist investment for 550 Arab and foreign investments bodies from 15 countries which took part in the 4th Tourist Investment Meeting held in Damascus , adding that the ministry will also offer 60 a five-star-projects, 63 a –four-star-projects with special concentration on a three-star- projects in areas of development in addition to launching 11 integrated big areas for tourist development.

In a statement to the Syrian News Agency, Al-Qala further added that the tourist sector in Syrian needs a big number of qualified cadre but we are still very far from securing this number , that is why we offered many investment projects in the rehabilitation, education, hotel training and tourist fields.