Sarawak state in eastern Malaysia will host the 2006 East Asia Tourism Forum (EATOF) this month, an official said Tuesday.

Delegates will gather at Sibu town on Sept. 14-16 to discuss ways on how to encourage a greater flow of tourists into the members of EATOF, said State Minister of Urban Development and Tourism Wong Soon Koh.

A travel mart will be held at the Everly Hotel in Sibu where travel agents will promote tourism products of their countries, said Wong.

As the forum will coincide with this town's signature annual tourism event, Borneo Cultural Festival, most of the EATOF members will bring their own cultural troupes to perform, he said.

The EATOF, as a voluntary, self-financing association, is an international cooperation body in East Asia among provincial governments for tourism promotion, bringing together provinces and regions throughout East Asia.

EATOF founding members include Gangwon Province (Republic of Korea), Tottori Prefecture (Japan), Tuv Province (Mongolia), Chiang Mai Province (Thailand), Cebu Province (the Philippines), Sarawak Province (Malaysia), Yogyakarta Special Province ( Indonesia), Jilin Province (China) and Russia's Primorsky Territory.

(Xinhua News Agency September 6, 2006)