APEC members accept travel cards

APEC members accept travel cards

The Jakarta Post, Jimbaran, Bali

Sixteen of the 21 member countries of the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) Forum, including Indonesia, have agreed to
accept the APEC Business Travel Card (BTC), which gives greater
mobility for APEC businessmen to travel in the APEC region.

"It is expected that by using the BTC, businessmen from APEC
countries will be able to conduct their business in the Asia-
Pacific region with much greater ease," Nobuhiko Kawamoto, the
head of the trade and business facilitation committee of the APEC
Business Advisory Council (ABAC) told a press conference here at
the end of the ABAC meeting.

He did not specify what the 16 countries were.

According to APEC's website, the BTC was introduced in 1997
with three APEC members -- Australia, South Korea and the
Philippines -- being the first countries to join the scheme. The
trial was later expanded in April 1998 to include Chile and Hong
Kong.

After evaluation, the scheme was put on a permanent footing on
March 1, 1999, when New Zealand and Malaysia announced their
participation.

Indonesia agreed to join the scheme in August 2002, according
to APEC's website.

Under the scheme, the holders of BTCs, which are valid for
three years, enjoy fast-track entry and exit through special APEC
lanes at major airports.

They don't need individual visas or entry permits each time
they travel to any of the participating countries. Besides, they
are entitled to multiple short-term entry into the participating
countries for a minimum of 60 days.

"In a trial on the use of the BTC, a person only needed a
total of eight minutes to complete all the processes from
disembarking from the aircraft to leaving the airport," Kawamoto
explained.

Palgunadi Setyawan, the chairman of ABAC's capacity-building
committee, said that despite having joined the BTC scheme,
Indonesia had yet to implement it.

"Indonesia basically accepts the card. However, we are still
waiting for the government to issue the necessary regulations,"
Palgunadi said.

According to Palgunadi, the four-day ABAC meeting drew 126
participants, including top leaders of multinational firms, from
21 countries.