The ASEAN tourism ministers acknowledged the progress achieved in the implementation of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) which they believed would bring about progress to various sectors in the region, particularly the tourism, transportation and communication sectors, Indonesian Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Mari Elka Pangestu said at the 15th ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) here on Wednesday.
They also hailed the coming into force of ASEAN Multilateral Agreement on the Full Liberalisation of Passenger Air Services (MAFLPAS), Mari said.
MAFLAS would better facilitate air connectivity services and automatically support the development of the tourism industry in the region, she said.
According to the ASEAN tourism ministers, the implementation of ASEAN-China Air Transport Agreement and its protocol 1 would increase air accessibility between ASEAN member states and China, the main market for ASEAN tourism, she said.
ASEAN member states had committed themselves to proceed with and speed up efforts to ease visa requirements for their citizens through the implementation of ASEAN Framework Agreement for Visa Exemption that ASEAN leaders reaffirmed at the 19th ASEAN Summit, she said.
She said the ASEAN tourism ministers also warmly welcomed the initiative to develop ASEAN common visa for non-ASEAN citizens in the future which they believed would contribute to the development of ASEAN community and ASEAN greater integration.
They also agreed to assign high-ranking officials in their respective countries to take an active part in comprehensive studies to identify time limit needed to introduce ASEAN common visa. The results of the comparative studies would hopefully be reported to the 23rd ASEAN Summit, she said.
They also noted the progress achieved in the implementation of ASEAN Tourism Strategic Plan (ATSP) 2011-2015 in which all ASEAN tourism working groups and committee had identified detailed steps and implemented the plan, she said.
To support the implementation of ATSP, the ministers agreed to increase their annual contributions to ASEAN NTOs Fund while at the same time improving ASEAN member states` contributions to the realization of ASEAN tourism activities, she said. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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