Ramos lifts travel tax

Ramos lifts travel tax

MANILA (AFP): The Philippine government lifted yesterday
travel tax requirements at international airports in the
country's south to boost tourism and business links with
contiguous areas of southeast Asia.

President Fidel Ramos exempted for two years air and sea
passengers from the southern Mindanao region to Brunei,
Indonesia, and Malaysia from paying travel tax, the presidential
palace said in a statement.

The order should "encourage trade and promote investment
opportunities in the East Asian Growth Area," it added.

Ramos is promoting a so-called "growth area" among contiguous
areas of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.