Common Visa To Be Reflected In Chair Statement

Nusa Dua (Antara Bali) - The idea of applying a common visa system in the Southeast Asian region is likely to be reflected in a chair statement, an official said.

"That will be reflected in a chair statement," Director General of ASEAN at the Foreign  Ministry Djauhari Oratmangun said at the venue of the 19th ASEAN Summit here on Monday night.

The idea of applying common visa was still on the early stage of discussion. It would take long time to realize the idea because it still had to be discussed with a number of relevant parties, he said.

The relevant parties were likely to hold a series of workshops to discuss technical matters related to the common visa, he said.

"We, the Indonesian citizens must have at least one vision first with regard to the common visa and later discuss it in the context of ASEAN. So the process is only to begin," he said.

After all, he added a chair statement of ASEAN currently led by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono might  turn into a political statement serving as the basis for ASEAN member states' commitment to applying the common visa.

A discourse on ASEAN common visa emerged at a meeting of ASEAN directors general of immigration and consular affairs from throughout the Southeast Asian region in 2009.

But the participants of the meeting saw no urgency in adopting  a common ASEAN visa system because it would require the solution of problems in various areas such as  of immigration, security, border area management and financing,  he said.(*)