KUALA LUMPUR: Terengganu's transition plan from an oil and gas-based to a diversified economy begins with the State Tourism Masterplan 2018-2025 set to be launched on Dec 23.
Formulated jointly by the state government and the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu), the plan will see the state's tourism assets revitalised under the state transformation plan into world class destinations.
At the signing and launch of the study by Pemandu today, Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Razif Abd Rahman said transformation was vital towards sustaining and rejuvenating the state's economy.
"The economic impact will trickle down the people of Terengganu, as tourism brings more direct returns and they will be more involved," said Ahmad Razif.
Pemandu chief executive officer Datuk Seri Idris Jala said the study would be strategised towards developing a plan that will see a complete transformation of tourism in Terengganu.
"We don't want this plan to be just a document. We want to write a plan that will identify key areas of focus and than operationalise what needs to be done step by step towards achieving our goals," said Idris.
Idris said to begin with, nine key areas of focus had been identified.
"We need to find out what can be done to enhance the tourism areas such as Kenyir Lake, the nine islands, the Setiu Wetlands, the towns such as Kuala Terengganu and the Kemaman Zoo," said Idris.
Also present were Terengganu state secretary Datuk Wan Zawawi Wan Ismail, State legal advisor Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid, State financial officer Datuk A. Rahman Yahya and Terengganu State Economic Transformation Unit (UTENT) chief executive officer Datuk Wan Mohd Albakri Md Nor.