http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillatestnews.asp?fileid=20050126152352&irec=6
Visa-free travel expected within Southeast Asian nations by end-2005
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Southeast Asian nationals will no longer need to
obtain visas when traveling to 10 countries in the region by the end of this
year, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said in remarks published
on Wednesday.
Leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
signed an agreement in 2002 to allow easier travel in a bid to revive
confidence after the bomb attack in Bali that year.
The following year, an ASEAN meeting in Hanoi urged member states to work
towards visa exemptions for travel within the region."This will be fully
effective by the end of the year," Abdullah was quoted as saying by the Star.
"Of course, we cannot downplay the security requirements of the
respective member states," he said in a speech read on his behalf by Tourism
Minister Leo Michael Toyad at an ASEAN tourism conference on Malaysia's
Langkawi island.
"However, in the spirit of ASEAN, I believe we can work together to
create means by which we can address these concerns and at the same time ensure
visa-free intra-regional travel."
Many ASEAN countries have bilateral agreements on visa exemption for
their respective nationals, but the organization does not have a multilateral
visa agreement for its members.
ASEAN members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Former premier Mahathir Mohamad went a step further in his address to the
conference proposing a single visa for entry to all ASEAN countries by foreign
travellers.
"Wouldn't it be wonderful to receive tourists, where we have one visa for
Southeast Asian countries. ASEAN countries should consider requiring a single
visa for tourists," he said. (***)
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