ITRC's director chaired a session on Island Tourism at BFA in China

The director of ITRC, Guðrún Þóra Gunnarsdóttir, recently attended The 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road: Islands Economic Cooperation Forum. The Forum, which is a regular session related to the annual Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) focused this time on Island Tourism. Guðrún Þóra was invited by the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Province (island) of Hainan, China to chair a session called Island Tourism: International Cooperation and Sustainable Development. The keynotes and panelists each year are high level government and private sector people in Asia and elsewhere in the world. This year, in addition to Guðrún Þóra, eight people participated in the Forum, either as a keynote speakers or participants in a panel discussion.   

1. Mr. Zhang Xu, Vice Minister of Culture and Tourism, China
2. Mr. Shen Danyang, Vice- Governor of Hainan Province, China
3. Mr. Won Hee-Ryong, Governor of Jeju Province, South Korea
4. Mr. T.M. Rajith Keerthi Tennakoon, Hon. Governor, Southern Province Sri Lanka
5. Mr. John Aquilina，Ambassador of Malta to China
6. Mr. Wang Sheng, Director-General, Foreign Affairs Office of Hainan Province, China
7. Mr. Hiria Ottino, President of Pacific-China Friendship Association
8. Mr. Chi Fulin, President of China Institute for Reform and Development

The panel discussions evolved around issues like tourism cooperation, tourism management and sustainable development. The forum concluded by an official release of the annual report on Global Islands 2018. Since the inception of the Islands Economic Cooperation Forum in 2016, an annual report has been released each year that focuses on the development trends of island economies and addresses common problems.