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2013 APEC High Level Policy Dialogue on Travel Facilitation

Bali, Indonesia | 01 - 02 October 2013
  1. We, the APEC Ministers and high level representatives responsible for Tourism, Immigration, Customs, and Transportation from Brunei Darussalam; Chile; People's Republic of China; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Japan; Malaysia;New Zealand;Republic of the Philippines; Russian Federation; Singapore; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; United States of America; and Viet Nam, met inthe High Level Policy Dialogue on Travel Facilitation in Bali, Indonesia,on 1-2 October 2013. We also appreciate the active participation ofUNWTO, WTTC, PATA, IATA, and PECC.The dialogue was chaired by H.E. Mari Pangestu, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, the Republic of Indonesia.

  2. We met under the theme of APEC Indonesia 2013 ‘Resilient Asia-Pacific: Engine of Global Growth’ with priorities of Attaining the Bogor Goals, Achieving Sustainable Growth with Equity, and Promoting Connectivity.

  3. We based our deliberations on the recognition by APEC Leaders in 2012 of the significance of travel and tourism as a vehicle for job creation, economic growth, and development in the Asia-Pacific.  Travel and tourism can be an engine of growth contributing an average of 8% to the GDP, with one out of 12 jobs coming from this sector.Travel facilitation will promote people to people connectivity which will not only boost tourism, but bring us closer as an Asia-Pacific community.

  4. We also undertook this important dialogueto advancethe APEC Travel Facilitation Initiative launched by APEC Economic Leaders in Honoluluin 2011 to explore ways to make travel in the region faster, easier, and more secure.This dialogue also supports ongoing implementation of APEC’s Consolidated Counter-Terrorism and Secure Trade Strategy, and the pursuit of APEC’s core economic mission based upon the fundamental pillars of security, efficiency, and resilience.

  5. We further recognized the APEC Economic Leaders Declarationin Vladivostok in 2012 which tasked APEC Tourism and Transport Ministers to encourage facilitation of legitimate international travel, to assess liberalization of air transport services, and to improve safety and security of tourist products.

  6. We reaffirmedthe Khabarovsk Declaration on Tourism Facilitation for a Robust Economy of the Asia Pacific, which was the result of the 2012 APEC Tourism Ministerial Meeting in Khabarovsk, Russian Federation on 24 July 2012.

  7. We noted the results of the study on visa facilitationconducted by UNWTO and WTTC for APEC economies.  Despite progress made in visa facilitation,20% of all international travel to and withinthe APEC region still required paper visas.  The study concluded thatthe implementation of Visa Facilitation could generate 12% to 18% increase or 38 to 57 million additional tourist arrivals, which will generate 1.0 to 1.4 million new jobs directly and US$62-89 billion more foreign exchange earnings by 2016.  We encourageddfurther studies on this topic.

  8. We therefore agreed that travel facilitation is a very important means in promoting connectivity among APEC member economies, which will benefit the entire region in all sectors including trade and tourism.Through this initiative, member economies will have the opportunity to promote travel and tourism as an economic activity, while maintaining secure travel.

  9. We are strongly committedto make travel more accessible, convenient, and more efficient by encouraging commitments of economies to form partnerships to ease visa procedures as well as to leverage new technology, as appropriate to the visa regime of each economy.  We recommended that there be a comprehensive study on the impact of visa facilitation on people-to-people connectivity in APEC, with concrete recommendations of what economies can do domestically, in partnership with others, and regionally as APEC.

  10. We encouraged the commitment and cooperation for the first time between different APEC fora and programs in order to support the APEC Travel Facilitation Initiative and we support continued work to enhance capabilities to further develop systems aimed at the implementation of Advance Passenger Information and Trusted Traveler Programs for ports of entry in line with global best practices. We urged the relevant five APEC fora, namely the Tourism Working Group, Transportation Working Group, Business Mobility Group, Sub Committee on Customs Procedures, and Counter Terrorism Working Group, to continue collaboratingon all six pillars of the Travel Facilitation Initiative which are Advance Passenger Information, Trusted Traveler Programs, Airport Partnership Program, APEC Business Travel Card, Passenger Security Screening, and Checked Baggage Facilitation.

  11. We supported the commitment of APEC economies to develop Tourist Friendly Airports, by promoting locality, uniqueness, and authenticity of the destination within the region, as part of Airport Partnership Program, and urgedthe Transportation Working Group and Tourism Working Group to collaborate on this endeavor.

  12. We noted the contributions from UNWTO, WTTC, PATA and IATA regarding Travel Facilitation, including the International Traveller Scheme, and the need for alignment of systems and common standards; and the importance of sharing of data and information.

  13. We urged officials in the relevant APEC fora to use studies and the exchange of information and experiences to develop principlesand best practices, share knowledge, improve technology and systems, and agree on domestic or regional pilot projects and actions towards achieving the goals of the Travel Facilitation Initiative.

  14. We agreed to submit this Joint Statement to the APEC Ministerial Meeting on 4-5 October 2013 and request APEC Ministers’ consideration to have this Joint Statement be reflected in the APEC 2013 Economic Leaders’ Declaration.