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.