TEHRAN--Director General of Khorasan Razavi Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Department Seyyed Javad Mousavi emphasized the importance of cultural interaction between the countries of the region on the sideline of his visit to Kyrgyzstan.

He said: “One of the valuable capacities of cooperation between ECO member countries is holding joint cultural weeks. We can organize a joint cultural week in Khorasan Razavi province, especially in Mashhad city, in coordination with the member countries and invite all ECO member countries to it. We can also have a joint plan to hold a Nowruz cultural week of the member countries that are located on the Silk Road. These measures can be very effective in developing cultural exchanges and tourism,” ISNA reported.

Mousavi added that Kyrgyzstan has significant capacities in the field of ecotourism, geoparks and natural landscapes, and it has been decided to make a special plan for the joint use of these capacities.

Regarding the visit of Khorasan Razavi delegation to Osh Cave Museum in Kyrgyzstan, he said: “This trip included a visit to one of the country's world-class historical monuments, for which appropriate infrastructure had been provided. In the field of handicrafts, significant activities have been carried out in the field of felt and pottery. Of course, in terms of standardization and training, the country's accommodation capacities are still limited, and it is necessary to cooperate in training the international standards in this field.”

Mousavi continued by saying about the impact of foreign trips on the development of tourism in Khorasan Razavi: “Such trips play an important role in the development of tourism in the province. The experience of previous trips has also shown that these opportunities can be used in the direction of tourism diplomacy and regional interactions.

Given the current conditions of the country, the best opportunity to strengthen diplomacy is interaction with neighboring countries, and we must benefit from these capacities in a desirable way.”

He added: “During our previous trip to Pakistan, we visited the provinces of Karachi and Lahore, and there is a great potential for cooperation there. Pakistan has about 40 million passengers, and given the significant Shia population, this unique capacity can play an important role in the development of pilgrimage tourism. Fortunately, over the past year, flights between Mashhad and Pakistan have increased to four, which has also provided a very good opportunity for rise in trade and exports.”

Mousavi stated: “Regarding Uzbekistan, preparations have been made for direct flights from Mashhad to Samarkand and Bukhara, and we hope to be able to expand these interactions and communications in other countries in the region as well.”

KD