Kuala Lumpur (VNA) - Malaysia will establish relations with the Republic of Korea (RoK) and Russia in the field of culture to further boost the country's tourism industry.

In a press release issued on September 21, Malaysian Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Nancy Shukri said the matter was discussed when she received courtesy calls from the ambassadors of RoK and Malaysia the same day.

She noted that visitors from the RoK are the most important group of tourists for Malaysia with an entry of 673,650 people in 2019, an increase of 9.1 percent compared to the previous year.

Among the matters discussed at the meeting was towards strengthening strategic cooperation in the cultural aspect in conjunction with the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries this year, she said.

Nancy said her ministry also discussed on organising cultural programmes in conjunction with the celebration to strengthen bilateral relations and connectivity between the people.

Meanwhile, Nancy stated that the increase in the number of Russian tourists in 2019 was 9.9 percent compared to 79,984 tourists in 2018. 
She also noted that about 30,000 Malaysian tourists visited Russia in the year./.

VNA