YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia , 27 January — In a big boost to the travel industry, ministers of the ASEAN countries have endorsed the formulation of the ASEAN Tourism Agreement at their meeting here yesterday.
At the fifth meeting of ASEAN tourism ministers, held on the fringes of the current Royal ASEAN Tourism Forum 2002, the ministers approved the formulation of the ASEAN Tourism Agreement which was envisaged at the seventh ASEAN Summit held in Brunei in November last year. "The ministers collectively viewed that the ASEAN Tourism Agreement would serve as a reaffirmation at the highest political levels of the importance of the travel and tourism sector for ASEAN economic integration and in the greater mutual understanding and solidarity among the peoples of ASEAN nations," said Gede Ardika, chairman of the ministers‚ meeting and culture and tourism minister of Indonesia, while addressing a news conference after the meeting.
A high level task force headed by Cambodian Tourism Minister Veng Sereyvuth will formulate the ASEAN Tourism Agreement so that it is ready for signing at eighth ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in November/December 2002.
Another important decision taken was the agreement to implement the second phase of the Visit ASEAN Campaign addressing the consumer market.
"The focus will be on intra-ASEAN travel in addition to the existing major generating markets in the Asia-Pacific region. To facilitate intra-ASEAN travel, the ministers have urged member countries to abolish allfiscal or non-fiscal travel barriers," Ardika explained. He said the ministers appreciated the fact that ASEAN members had incorporated the Visit ASEAN Campaign activities into their own promotional campaigns. Ardika allayed any fears among intending tourists about peace and security in the ASEAN countries. "The ministers have endorsed the recent action taken in some ASEAN member countries to detain persons suspected of having terrorist links as a positive step toward ensuring that a high level of security prevailed in the region. The ministers also welcomed the continued high level of vigilance by law enforcement agencies and urged that all possible security measures continue to be taken," Ardika elaborated.
This was also the first meeting of ASEAN Plus Three nations as ministers from China, Japan and South Korea joined their counterparts from ASEAN countries to discuss matters of mutual interest.
Ardika said the ministers recognized that tourism cooperation in the ASEAN Plus Three framework would foster greater tourism exchange, social interaction and closer economic cohesion in East Asia. "They shared the view that the ASEAN Plus Three cooperation is very timely as there is now an urgent need for increased tourism in view of the global economic downturn and the drop in global tourism in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 tragedy in the United States," Ardika added. The ministers have asked the ASEAN secretariat to finalize its study on the impact of the Sept. 11 tragedy on ASEAN tourism after taking into account a completed survey from all the member countries, Ardika said. The sixth meeting of ASEAN tourism ministers will be held during ATF 2003 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from Jan. 20-28, 2003, with the theme "ASEAN United for a Brighter Future".
Meanwhile, Laos has confirmed to host the seventh meeting of ministers as well as ATF 2004.