"Holding of International Film Festival here will help showcase Ladakh internationally and attract more tourists to this beautiful place," Omar said after inaugurating the festival here, 434 kms from summer capital Srinagar.
Omar expressed hope that the three-day event will be world class, matching other film festivals taking place globally.
"With the coming up of excellent infrastructure, like auditoriums etc, I expect that the holding of festivals of national and international standards would become a permanent feature in Leh," he said.
He assured all possible help from the government in organizing events of significance in the State to give fillip to tourism industry generating economic activities and employment for youth.
As many as 60 films on various subjects including documentary, art and features will be screened during the film festival to be chaired by noted filmmaker Shyam Benegal.
Welcoming the participants, Omar highlighted the state's captivating natural beauty, unparallelled film locations, rich heritage and cultural diversity making special reference to the unique serenity of Ladakh region.
"Our beautiful land offers wide-ranging attractions to the tourists of all interests and we have to add variety to this speciality by focusing on sports, cultural, adventure, pilgrim and heritage tourism," he added. (MORE)
