Indonesia is to bring up the issue of instituting a joint ASEAN visa system at an ASEAN ministerial meeting (AMM) next July 16-23, a minister said.

“The idea to adopt a joint ASEAN visa system for visitors from outside the ASEAN region will be discussed during a ministerial meeting in Bali. The concept of a joint visa system will resemble the Schengen visa system adhered to by some European countries,” Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said here Thursday.

However, the minister said a joint ASEAN visa system could not be implemented soon because it must be discussed further by related officials in the future.

He said the joint ASEAN Visa system would enable visitors from countries outside ASEAN to travel in the ten member countries of ASEAN with a single visa.

“We want countries outside ASEAN to see this organization as a single place to visit,” he added.

Some ASEAN countries have since 2005 been issuing free visas to visitors from fellow ASEAN member countries. Of the 10 members namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia only the last three countries have not yet implemented the free-visa policy.

Earlier, the ASEAN Tourism Association (ASEANTA) comprised of member tourism organization from the 10-member nations of ASEAN, is busy lobbying their respective governments to adopt a policy of a single visa valid for all ten countries as a critical step of turning ASEAN into a single tourism destination.

According to ASEANTA`s Vice-President, Elly Hutabarat, the idea of a single ASEAN visa has received widespread support from the governments of the association but has encountered problems in moves towards the actual implementation of the measure due to the varying immigration and visa policies among the 10 countries.

Source: Antara News

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