YANGON, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar Vice President U Henry Van Thio has called for cooperation among tourism organizations to promote the tourism industry, the official Global New Light of Myanmar reported Saturday.

At Friday's meeting of the Central Committee for the Development of National Tourism Industry, the vice president stressed the need to accommodate tourists with good services and arrangements for their safety during their stay as well as to promote traditional customs and cuisines of ethnic minorities in the country.

Meanwhile, Myanmar has granted visa exemption to Japanese and South Korean visitors as well as visa-on-arrival to visitors from China from Oct. 1.

In accordance with the figures of the Hotel and Tourism Ministry, the country attracted over 1.72 million foreign visitors in the first half of this year.

The authorities are targeting over 7 million tourists by 2020.

The country is also striving to promote eco-tourism cultural tourism and community-based tourism in resource-rich areas such as historical landscapes, rivers, lakes, beaches, islands and forests.

According to the statistics, tourist arrivals in the country reached 2.9 million in 2016.