Mekong Tourism Ministers dialogue - what dialogue? Where were the ministers?

The topic sounded enticing - Dialogue with Mekong Tourism Ministers. It was

one of the sessions during this week’s PATA Conference held in Pattaya. But

as they say, don’t judge a plenary session by its title.

It turned out to be a watered down version of what the organisers probably

envisaged. What was troubling was that these ministers were supposed to use

this platform to move forward on the discussion that took place at the

Mekong Tourism Investment Summit held about a month ago in Luang Prabang,

Laos.

First the promised six ministers were not there (except for one or two);

they were represented by senior officials. Vietnam and Myanmar were not

represented.

What made it worse that it turned out to be rather a monologue instead of

the dialogue that was promised.

Each of them - after saying that they were given only 2-3 minutes to provide

introductory comments - went on to talk at length about their country and

touched on very basic things that most in the room were already familiar

with, except for the representative from Thailand.

There was hardly anything spoken about plans and strategies; nothing that

moved forward from the recommendations or suggestions made at the Mekong

Summit in Laos.

Between themselves and a video about the Mekong region, they took up an

hour, leaving only precious minutes for a real dialogue.

It just seems a mockery that after the effort to congregate delegates for

the first Mekong Tourism Investment Summit, the follow-up was pathetic.

If this is the way forward, then the officials and organisers involved in

developing the Mekong region should seriously consider if they are doing the

right thing.

The Mekong Summit was revamped this year to focus on the investment

potential of the region. Those considering such investments are looking for

direction and policy changes from senior officials, not a video or statements.