ASEAN leaders sign tourism pact to revive confidence

ASEAN leaders sign tourism pact to revive confidence

Eileen Ng, Agence France-Presse, Phnom Penh

Southeast Asian leaders signed a tourism agreement Monday that
will allow easier travel and open up the aviation industry in the
region in a bid to revive confidence after Bali bombing.

Tourism slumped after the terrorist attack on the Indonesian
paradise island last month, which prompted Western governments to
issue travel advisories warning their citizens to keep away from
the region.

The agreement between the 10 Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) leaders signed Monday provides for more
cooperation and information sharing on immigration matters among
Southeast Asian law-enforcement agencies, seen as an effort to
ease visitor concerns over potential terrorist attacks.

In the area of transport, the ASEAN leaders agreed to
progressively liberalize air services and improve airport
management and related services while encouraging cooperation
among regional airlines.

The pact, recognizing the importance of tourism as a top money
spinner for the region, also pledged to make the industry more
efficient and competitive, according to a statement issued after
the signing ceremony here.

"Tourism plays a strategic role in generating economic growth,
and also promotes ASEAN's diverse social, cultural and historical
heritage," host Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said in his
opening remarks at the meeting.

The tourism agreement provides for extending visa-exemption
arrangements and phasing out travel levies and taxes for ASEAN
nationals while harmonizing visa procedures for international
travelers.

It also encourages the use of "smart" cards for business and
frequent travelers from ASEAN member states as well as other more
efficient procedures for those outside the region.

ASEAN, comprising Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, also
agreed "to ease the process of issuing travel documents and
progressively reduce all trade barriers" restricting the growth
of the tourism industry.

The pact also called for "appropriate policies" to encourage
cruises, ferry travel and leisure-boat activities as well as
cooperative measures to support road safety and travel insurance.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said the pact
would be a unifying and "driving force" for economic cooperation
and development.

"We have so many products to offer but now we have to sell
ASEAN as one," he said.

The tourism agreement was formulated by a high-level task
force led by Cambodia, preparing to host the tourism industry's
biggest regional gathering, the ASEAN Tourism Forum, in January
2003.

Tourism was also referred to in an ASEAN declaration on
terrorism released at the start of the beginning of the two-day
summit on Monday.

In the declaration, the leaders criticized Western governments
for their recent spate of warnings against traveling in many
parts of Southeast Asia because of other potential terrorist
attacks.

"We call on the international community to avoid
indiscriminately advising their citizens to refrain from visiting
or otherwise dealing with our countries, in the absence of
established evidence to substantiate rumors of possible terrorist
attacks, as such measures could only help achieve the objectives
of the terrorists" the declaration said.