Turkey to establish Centre of Excellence in Tourism and Hospitality in Pakistan

ANKARA: Pakistan and Turkey have agreed to establish a Centre of Excellence in Tourism and Hospitality Management in Islamabad, said a statement on Wednesday.

The project was given final shape during a meeting between Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood and Dr. Serdar Çam, Deputy Minister for Culture & Tourism of Turkey in Ankara on Wednesday, according to the statement. 

During their meeting, both the ministers explored further opportunities for collaboration in education, technical training, culture and tourism sector. 

Shafqat Mahmood briefed the Turkish minister about potential of tourism sector of Pakistan. 

He said that domestic tourism in Pakistan reached its peak during current year but stressed on the need for more efforts to attract more foreign tourists. 

He also conveyed his gratitude to the people and leadership of Turkey for standing by Pakistan on issues of its core national interest, particularly Kashmir issue. 

He also assured Pakistan’s support on issues that concerns Turkey. 

Both sides expressed the hope that the upcoming Pakistan visit of Turkish President Erdogan will provide further momentum to bilateral ties. 

Earlier, Pakistan delegation led by Shafqat Mehmood visited Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) headquarters and were briefed by its Vice President Prof. Dr. Birol Çetin about the organization’s global as well as Pakistan operations. 

He informed that since 2010 when TIKA office was established in Pakistan, it has undertaken about 148 projects in various sectors focussing on education, health, skills development, employment generation and women empowerment. 

Turkish side showed keen desire to do more projects in the area of technical education and vocational training. 

Shafqat Mahmood said that Pakistan is establishing National Skills University in Islamabad and the proposed Centre of Excellence in Hospitality & Tourism Management will part of it as its campus.

He said Pakistan government is revising national education curriculum in order to make it relevant to market needs. 

This will include technical education and vocational training as a priority area, he added.