LANGKAWI TO BE DEVELOPED INTO A GLOBAL TOURIST DESTINATION

LANGKAWI, Malaysia, July 30 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's northern resort island
Langkawi will be developed into a global tourist destinations, Second Finance
Minister Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said .

He said a special committee chaired by the ministry, and represented by other
ministries as well as the Langkawi Development Authority (Lada) and the northern
state Kedah government, was set up early this year to outline programmes for the
purpose.

Among the products which would be promoted to attract more tourists to Langkawi
were eco-tourism, health-tourism and programmes which involved theparticipation
of airline companies, including from China and India, he told reporters after a
dialogue with tour operators here Thursday.

Earlier in his speech, Ahmad Husni said Langkawi recorded 2.376 million tourist
arrivals last year, from 2.303 million in 2008.

He also announced a RM3 million (US$939,850) allocation to Lada for purchase of
equipment to clean the beaches.
-- BERNAMA