MANILA, Philippines – World leaders will discuss the fate of a common visa for Southeast Asian countries during the World Economic Forum (WEF) on East Asia held from Wednesday, May 21, to Friday, May 23, in Manila. 

In a media briefer, organizers said the WEF will address a possible agreement to create a regional common visa for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The session on the common visa follows up on the 2013 WEF in Myanmar. (READ: FAST FACTS: The World Economic Forum)

In the WEF from June 5 to 7, 2013 in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, 4 countries signed a letter of intent “to collaborate on a smart tourism system.”

The tourism ministers and authorities of the Philippines, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Indonesia signed this letter after the WEF in 2013, which gathered more than 900 participants from 55 countries.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima on Monday, May 19, said a common visa can boost tourism in ASEAN, which had more tourist arrivals than France in 2013. “If we’re one, with a common visa policy, the potential is really there,” he said. (READ: PH ‘well situated’ to take advantage of ASEAN integration)

Coming from WEF 2013, Philippine Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr also said a common visa will help “by facilitating the movement of tourists across borders” and by “maximizing the use of technology to reduce the inefficiencies of the traditional visa application process.”

Why common visa matters

In 2012, he noted that the Philippines was “working hard for a unified ASEAN visa.”

A common visa is important, Jimenez explained, because the Philippines isn’t connected to other ASEAN countries by land. In countries connected by land, foreign visitors can simply drive across a border. 

U Htay Aung, Myanmar’s union minister of hotels and tourism, said in 2013 that a smart visa system aims to eliminate “barriers to the movement of tourists which are currently creating disincentives to travel.”

Mari Elka Pangestu, Indonesia’s minister of tourism and creative economy, said a smart visa system will help in “the growth of the tourism sector, increased investments in the travel and tourism industry, and job creation.”

Based on ASEAN data as of January 31, Malaysia attracts the highest number of tourists in the region, with more than 25 million in 2012.

Below is the list of overall tourist arrivals in ASEAN in 2012:

• Malaysia – 25,032,700

• Thailand – 22,353,900

• Singapore – 14,491,200

• Indonesia – 8,044,500

• Vietnam – 6,847,700

• Philippines – 4,272,800

• Cambodia – 3,584,300

• Lao PDR – 3,330,100

• Myanmar – 1,059,000

• Brunei Darussalam – 209,100

– Rappler.com