Hospitability is in the DNA of South East Asia, says Nazri

“It is very clear that South East Asia has hospitality in its DNA. It’s not about us being Malaysians, Thais or what not, but we South East Asians are really hospitable people, that’s the success we have today,” said Nazri.

Nazri was speaking to reporters after chairing a meeting this morning between the tourism ministers of 10 ASEAN countries, as well as China, Japan, and Korea at the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2014(ATF).

The ATF, in its 33rd year, is being hosted in Sarawak for the first time since its 1981 inauguration in Malaysia.

ATF leaders annually discuss, review and strategise ways to continuously promote ASEAN as the world’s top travel destination.

“I am very proud of ASEAN. I really respect our forefathers for having ASEAN. We really work hard. Nothing is left unchecked.

“Which other regional association in the world would sit down for days and talk about tourism for the region? The good thing is that all our countries are top destinations for tourists. We don’t work against each other. We work together,” said Nazri.

Nazri said that the ASEAN cooperation was not just limited to tourism but other aspects which are handled by structured committees.

“We look into many things, into mutual recognition arrangements. We take experiences from each other and we need each other. We actually are (a community).”

As for Malaysia, its biggest challenge, according to Nazri was that its citizens does not trust themselves despite being successful.

“Generally I think Malaysians are good people, hospitable. The only thing is that sometimes we don’t really realise our real talent. We are somehow distracted by what we think is best… in the West. But not everything from the West is good.”

“There are reasons why we are like this. We should concentrate on what we really are. We have been successful as a country. We don’t have to look at other countries. The problem is we don’t trust ourselves… We need to trust ourselves.”

In 2013, 90.2 million tourists visited ASEAN, reflecting a 12% growth from 2012.