BANGKOK: The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) today launched a one-stop portal that provides high-level summary of information on international travel within the region as member economies safely resume cross-border movement.
The portal aims to provide simple explanations of travel protocols and taps official resources, i.e. participating member economies for summaries and information.
Chair of APEC Safe Passage Taskforce Cherdchai Chaivaivid said an information hub that is clear, simple and coordinated will help travellers navigate the different approaches in the region.
“They can refer to this portal as they plan their trips across APEC. Our goal is to facilitate travel as best we can, and we are looking forward to more economies participating in this initiative,” he said in a statement.
The information portal can be accessed at https://safepassage.apec.org. The launch of the information portal was announced during the meeting of senior officials in Bangkok on Tuesday as they kickstarted the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week.
Meanwhile, the Chair of APEC Health Working Group Dr Pongsadhorn Pokpermdee said one of Thailand’s focuses this year is to restore connectivity, which was disrupted by Covid-19 pandemic, by promoting the resumption of safe cross-border travel across the APEC region, revitalise tourism, as well as facilitate business activities and increase investment in health security.
Dr Pongsadhorn, who oversees the initiative, said the portal focused on travel and tourism, and it provides information on health-related measures.
“Even as we open up our borders and ease travel restrictions, there are still some measures in place related to Covid-19, whether it’s health declaration, mask mandate or showing of vaccine certification.
“This only shows the importance of cross-collaboration between agencies in our economies in managing pandemic or any shocks,” he said. - Bernama
