Montevideo, Nov 15 (EFE) .- Several airlines of Mexican origin have expressed to the Uruguayan authorities their interest in directly connecting the two countries, announced today the Minister of Tourism of Uruguay, Liliam Kechichian.

The Secretary of State considered that this is a "good news" and that the efforts, by Uruguay, have been made by the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Transport and Public Works and the Carrasco International Airport itself.

In this sense, Kechichian pointed out that these three organisms "come doing a silent job "and liaising with Mexican airport authorities to finalize the connection, although he did not reveal which companies are interested.

" A flight direct between Mexico and Uruguay would be very good. in which they begin to look at South America, "he said.

He also explained that this North American country is going through" some difficulties "with its northern neighbor, which is why it considered "very opportune moment" to finalize the airlift.

"In addition, it could be the fastest connection with Asia, and especially with China," he said.

For this reason, interest is double: connect Uruguay with Central America and also with the Asian market, with an emphasis on China.

The Asian giant "is particularly interested", as detailed Kechichian.

Vice Minister of Tourism, Benjamin Liberoff, said recently that the South American country aims to establish an air connection with China in 2018.

Liberoff added Last Monday, one of the objectives of this project is to attract a part of 5% of the 200 million tourists from China who travel to places outside of Asia, Europe and the United States.

Therefore, Kechichian acknowledged that "one of the weaknesses" that Uruguay has with respect to China is "along the connection".

The head of Uruguayan Tourism participated this Wednesday in the presentation of a balance sheet that revealed that, throughout 2017, Uruguay trained 3,400 workers and entrepreneurs to perform in the tourism sector.