JAKARTA, July 17 (Xinhua) -- FEALAC (Forum for East Asia and Latin America Cooperation) is holding a conference on ecotourism in Bali of Indonesia from July 17 to 18, 2008, according to local media Thursday.
"The conference is being attended by around 200 representatives of 24 member countries of FEALAC," national Antaranews agency quoted the Indonesian foreign ministry's Director for Intra-Regional Cooperation Dian Wirengiurit as saying.
The conference is organized based on a decision of the FEALAC Working Group Meeting on Economy and Society in south Korea in October 2007.
The initiating programs supporting FEALAC efforts is expected to enhance cooperation between East Asian and Latin American countries, particularly in the economic and social fields, Wirengiurit said.
"The countries in the two regions (East Asia and Latin America)have the world's best ecotourism destinations, and they have identified efforts to strengthen cooperation in ecotourism among FEALAC member countries," she said.
The theme of the conference is "Towards Sustainable Ecotourism Development in East Asia and Latin America".
The ecotourism market has also proven to easily adapt to changes in trends in tourism and to have strong survival and fast recovery capability from different threats and challenges such as bombing incidents, war and even SARS epidemics.
Established in 2001, FEALAC has 33 member countries including Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Panama, Thailand and Peru.
