ASEAN moves closer to adoption of common visa

The 19th ASEAN Summit to be held in Bali on November 17-19, 2011, is expected to discuss among other things the proposed common ASEAN visa system as part of the ASEAN connectivity plan.

ASEAN foreign ministers at their 44th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Bali recently agreed to study further the common visa proposal, Widya Rahmanto, an official of the foreign ministry`s ASEAN cooperation directorate general, said in Jakarta on October 27, 2011.

Indonesia as the current ASEAN Chair hoped the upcoming ASEAN Summit would agree on the proposed common visa so an official study could be carried out starting in 2012, he said.

"An in-depth study on a common ASEAN visa is a must because there are many internal issues that must be addressed first, such as visa online system, coordination etc.," he said. 

An online information system is very crucial to the immigration office`s ability to prevent visa abuse when the new system is applied. 

The common visa policy could be applied in stages, for instance in the first stage, the common visas would be given only to diplomats, and the next stage, to citizens of certain countries such as Japan, South Korea and China, as they have been sending many tourists to ASEAN member states so far, Widya said.

In early August 2011, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed his hope that ASEAN member countries would soon agree to adopt a common visa system in support of ASEAN`s connectivity program and to facilitate closer regional people-to-people interaction. 

But before ASEAN would adopt a common visa system for visitors from non-ASEAN countriest, it must first agree on an a visa-arrangement for its own peoples. 

Currently, ASEAN member countries, except Cambodia and Laos, apply a visa -free policy among themselves, particularly to boost intra-ASEAN tourism. 

An Indonesian immigration office spokesman said recently the office was ready to implement the proposed common ASEAN visa system and only needed to add more immigration checking counters to the 44 existing at different locations in the country.

"If the common ASEAN visa system is adopted, we just need to set up more immigration checking counters," Sulistiono of the law and human rights ministry`s immigration directorate general said recently.

The immigration directorate general so far had 44 immigration checking counters equipped with online information system facilities to check the identities of people coming to or leaving Indonesia, he said.

"Ideally, there should be 126 counters equipped with an online information system. But, the development of the online information system depends on the available budget. However, our point is we are ready," he said.

PLE Priatna, a senior official at the foreign affairs ministry`s ASEAN Cooperation directorate general, said that the adoption of a common visa system will definitely lead to an increase in the flow of tourists to the Southeast Asian region, including Indonesia.

"If the ASEAN common visa system is applied, it will have a positive impact on tourism in the region," he said here recently.

Indonesia, however, would not be the largest beneficiary of the increase in the foreign tourist flow, he said, adding that Thailand had so far been the biggest recipient of foreign tourists in the region.

He cited data showing that in 2010 Thailand received at least 11 million foreign tourists, Malaysia 5.6 million, Indonesia 4.6 million, Myanmar 2.79 million, and Cambodia 1.6 million.

Indonesia should try to attract more foreign tourists by stepping up promotions of the country`s interesting spots and objects, he said. 

But attractive or interesting tourist objects were not the only factor in foreign tourists` decisions to visit a country as they also tended to be influenced by the visa application process they had to go through, Priatna said.

He believed for instance, that the relatively low number of foreign tourists visiting Cambodia had something to do with the country`s visa application process.

The Indonesian government has set itself the target of attracting 7.7 million foreign tourists this year and 8.4 million in 2012.

Ani Insani, the tourism and creative economy ministry`s tourism standardization director, is optimistic that the ASEAN common visa policy would help increase the number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia. 

Tourism is one of the 11 sectors given priority in ASEAN`s scheme to accelerate liberalization of its market, she said. 

ASEAN was founded in 1967 with the signing of the Bangkok Declaration by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam joined the grouping in 1984, Viet Nam in 1995, Lao and Myanmar in 1997, and Cambodia in 1999. 

In line with "ASEAN Tourism Strategic Plan (ATSP) 2011-2015" adopted in the 14th Meeting of the ASEAN Tourism Ministers held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on January 17, 2011, ASEAN member countries have agreed to intensify the promotion of their tourist destinations to their peoples. 

The ATSP is expected to contribute to the overall goals of the ASEAN Community by 2015 through promotion of growth, integration and competitiveness of the tourism sector and at the same time deepen social and cultural understanding as well as facilitating travel into and within ASEAN. 

Last year ASEAN attracted more than 65 million visitors, posting a healthy 12% growth. Intra-ASEAN travel, meanwhile, continued to be a major share of tourists, making up 45% of total international arrivals. 

ASEAN has more than 570 million population that formed a large base for intra-ASEAN traveling

Source: ANTARA