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.