KUALA LUMPUR: Hong Kong-based Evergreen Offshore Inc launched on Friday a private equity fund worth HK$10bil (RM5.4bil) targeting the tourism sector in countries such as Malaysia.

Evergreen Group said in a statement that it had allocated HK$2bil from the fund, called Asia Pacific One Belt One Road Tourism Industry Fund, to invest in Malaysian projects ahead of its other target markets, including Thailand and Vietnam.

The decision to debut the fund in Malaysia was “strongly backed” by the evident growth of its tourism industry and the Government’s plan to boost its investment to develop the sector, the company said.

Building on the existing strong bilateral relations between China and Malaysia, Evergreen aims to further boost the relationship by investing in Malaysia’s tourism sector for long-term gain.

Evergreen Group chairman Davy Chan said the fund was set up with a long-term vision to promote the tourism sector in countries and regions along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

“Through our partners here in Malaysia, as well as our own findings, we understand that the Malaysian government will increase its investment in the tourism industry,” he said.

Evergreen is already in talks with a few potential project owners who are directly involved in tourism development projects.

Tourism and travels are Malaysia’s third largest source of foreign exchange earnings, which stood at RM61bil or 5.7% of the total gross domestic product. Evergreen said the figure was forecast to reach RM262.2bil, or 15.8% of GDP, by 2025.

It was reported that last year, the country’s tourism sector was the second highest private investment contributor at RM24.5bil and the third largest gross national income contributor at RM67.1bil.

Malaysia recorded a 5% increase in tourist arrivals in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2015.