ASEAN to simplify visa procedures
During the East Asia Summit on tourism, trade and travel held in Bangkok, Thailand on May 30, ASEAN member states have agreed on the implementation of a common visa for non-ASEAN arrivals within 5 years.
During the East Asia Summit on tourism, trade and travel held in Bangkok, Thailand on May 30, ASEAN member states have agreed on the implementation of a common visa for non-ASEAN arrivals within 5 years.
This proposal is similar to the Schengen Agreement designed to create a borderless area for international travel which comprises the territories of twenty six European countries. In February 2012, Thailand and Cambodia started to grant a single visa for non-ASEAN tourists and this model is expected to be extended to Laos and Vietnam by the end of this year.
In addition, the region is also pursuing several initiatives focused on intra-ASEAN visas and the adoption of e-visas. Cambodia has already implemented an e-visa system while Myanmar started to use the procedure in March this year.
The East Asia Summit on tourism, trade and travel took place at a time that ASEAN is said to have a lot of potential to develop tourism and travel. All the countries recognize the huge contribution of the tourism sector to job generation and stimulating economic growth and vow on upgrading visa procedures to boost tourism development.
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