[Juliaroman]

HA NOI — Around 400 foreign and local tourist agencies are expected to gather at the ASEAN tourism forum scheduled to open in Ha Noi on Monday.

The eight-day ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) will include a raft of meetings between ASEAN tourism ministers, executives of tourism agencies and dialogue partners.

The forum would serve as a venue for Vietnamese tourism agencies to seek and set up co-operation with foreign partners, particularly those from potential markets such as Australia, China, Japan and Russia, said Nguyen Van Tinh, director of the Foreign Relations Department of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

"The event is considered a ‘golden opportunity’ for introducing Viet Nam, its land and people, to international friends," said Tinh.

The ATF has been held annually by ASEAN member countries since the first forum in Malaysia in 1981.