The meeting of the Parliamentary Committee of the CEI Parliamentary Dimension on "Tourism and Mobility of Citizens as Important Components of Interaction of the Countries of the Central European Initiative. Legislative Support: Experience, Cooperation, Challenges and Problems" was held at the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian Parliament, on 24 May 2012.
The meeting was opened by Mr. Volodymyr Lytvyn, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, who underlined that "the Central European Initiative is for Ukraine an important instrument for integration into the European economic, political and humanitarian space, an efficient instrument for maintaining stability in the region and development of fruitful relations between the Member States of the Initiative".
CEI Deputy Secretary General, Zoran Jovanovic, pointed out that promoting sustainable tourism development was important for the CEI since this kind of tourism implied the engagement of local populations and the promotion of local tourism offer, thus likely to stimulate the economic development of local communities. He also highlighted that over the years - through its Co-operation Fund and Know-how Exchange Programme - the CEI had supported several dozens of projects in the field of sustainable tourism.
The meeting in Kiev was attended by parliamentary delegations from 13 CEI Member States. Discussions focused on economic incentives for tourism development, legislative measures linked to the management of cultural and natural sites, and mechanisms of cooperation between government institutions, the private sector and NGOs.
In his letter addressed to participants of the CEI Parliamentary Committee Meeting, H.E. Viktor Yanukovych. President of Ukraine, referring to the CEI Presidency in 2012, pointed out that his country considered “this mission an important one especially in the context of European integration aspirations”.
The Final Resolution was adopted at the end of the meeting.