MOSCOW: Russia and Malaysia have agreed to create a working group to strengthen inter-departmental cooperation in the field of tourism, deputy director of the Department of Multilateral Economic Cooperation and Special Projects of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, Evgeniya Aksenova, said on Monday, reported Sputnik.

"Our countries are interested in maintaining a growing tourist flow. We agreed to create a specialised working group within the framework of the work of the Russian-Malaysian commission to strengthen inter-departmental cooperation in the field of tourism, as well as to develop and sign a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia and the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture of Malaysia," Aksenova said during the second meeting of the joint Russian-Malaysian commission on economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation in Kuala Lumpur.

In the first half of 2023, the number of tourist trips from Russia to Malaysia amounted to 64,000, the Russian ministry said, adding that in 2019, the tourist flow was 80,000 people.

-- BERNAMA