Asean urged to create business travel card before AEC 2015 launch
The Asean Business Advisory Council (Asean-BAC) has urged the regional grouping to prioritise the creation of an Asean business travel card before 2015.
At the Asean Business Investment Summit press conference on Monday, Fauziah Dato Talib, member of the Asean-BAC, said the creation of a regional business visa was among the “doable items”, pointing out that a similar instrument, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Business Travel card, is already being used.
“The Apec business travel card benefits a lot of businesses that come from Apec economies,” she said.
She added that at the moment, seven out of 10 Asean countries are part of Apec and have access to the card.
“Asean can start development of the business travel card on a stage basis, and we thought the best way forward is to work closely with [Asean-BAC] members, national chambers of commerce and national associations,” she said.
In April, leaders at the 22nd Asean Summit acknowledged that the proposal for an Asean business travel card was under consideration.
The regional leaders also said that the development of the travel card would ease movement of businessmen and investors and would foster trade and investment within Asean.
Asean Secretary-General Le Luong Minh had said that only recognised professionals would be allowed to move freely.
Asean ministers and governments are trying to come up with a method of implementation for the Asean business travel card and how the whole programme can come together, Fauziah said.
Moe Kyaw, Asean-BAC member from Myanmar, said while the target is 2015, there are seven Asean countries that allow regional citizens to travel to their countries without a visa.
“Hopefully, by 2015, any Asean person can go to any Asean country without a visa,” he added.
Other issues on the Asean-BAC’s agenda include: strengthening of regional economic integration and expanding, promoting start-ups and the development of micro, small and medium enterprises, as well as promoting the inclusion of youth and women, Fauziah said.
Fauziah added that the Asean-BAC has been conducting studies and surveys on the use of Asean+1 free trade agreements, the Asean competitiveness survey, and
outreach programmes, such as one conducted with business councils from Russia, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, China, Japan and South Korea.
Fauziah said that it was decided that the Asean trade partners’ business councils would consolidate their resources with the Asean-BAC taking the lead.
The business councils will be formalising this agreement with the signing of a memorandum of cooperation.
“We also had a few other areas of interest where we have priority industry sectors that want to cooperate with us, so we focus on 12 sectors under the Asean identified priority sectors, and are basically going to set up the same cooperation,” Fauziah said.
She added that this move will allow the Asean-BAC to get related issues and challenges directly from the sectors that can be put forward to ministers during the Asean Economic Ministers Meeting.
