[PHNOM PENH POST]
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations yesterday concluded its
annual Tourism Forum in Manado, Indonesia, furthering plans to
facilitate intra-regional travel for both ASEAN nationals and foreign
tourists, officials said.
Promoting the theme “ASEAN Tourism for a
Global Community of Nations”, the forum was held between January 8-15
and provided “a great platform for tourism cooperation between the ASEAN
countries to facilitate economic development and environmental
conservation”, Indonesia’s Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Mari
Elka Pangestu said in a statement.
The event has aimed to
project ASEAN as a single, highly competitive tourist destination by
establishing shared laws that reduced travel barriers for visitors both
within and to the region.
Such efforts were continued last week
when ministers from all 10 member countries voiced their commitment to
accelerate the 2006 ASEAN Framework Agreement for Visa Exemption, which
would ease or erase visa requirements for travelling ASEAN nationals.
Cambodian
Association of Travel Agents president Ang Kim Eang said that the
process has already been long in development, and that Cambodians “now
only require visas from a few countries such as Brunei and Myanmar”,
adding that he believed these visas could be obtained on arrival.
Figures
released at the meeting confirmed that intra-ASEAN travel continued to
form a major portion of the tourism industry, comprising 43 per cent of
total international arrivals in 2011.
The ministers also were
receptive to a new initiative to develop an ASEAN common visa for
foreign tourists sometime in the future. Senior officials were told to
organise a comprehensive study so that the common visa proposal might be
submitted to the 23rd ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh in April.
Ang
Kim Eang claimed that Cambodia and Thailand would spearhead the
experiment by testing a “bilateral visa agreement”, wherein travelers in
possession of a Thai visa would qualify for entry into Cambodian
territory.
He did not offer a deadline for when such an initiative would start.
If
successful, the common visa could expand throughout the Greater Mekong
Subregion (GMS) and eventually all ASEAN countries, he said.
Discussions also extended outside the ASEAN sphere, particularly concerning the major neighbouring countries of China and Japan.
The
ASEAN-China Air Transport Agreement, meant to “significantly enhance
air accessibility between ASEAN and China”, was entered into force,
according to an official statement. Specifics of the agreement were not
immediately available.
Japan was praised for its ongoing
efforts to expand an “Open Skies” policy, or the opening of aviation
markets between the participating partners, with other ASEAN countries.
Myanmar was appointed chief of GMS during the first days of the forum.
Ang
Kim Eang said the decision was made to promote Myanmar’s more positive
image in recent weeks, such as the release of hundreds of political
prisoners, and to encourage further US involvement in the region.
The
ASEAN Tourism Forum’s location changes each year according to
alphabetical order. Laos is poised to host the 32nd forum in 2013.
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