INDONESIA and Myanmar have reached an agreement to allow reciprocal 30-day, visa-free travel for citizens of both countries, with the new policy expected to be effective this month.
The visa exemption agreement was signed between Indonesian minister of foreign affairs Marty Natalegawa and his Myanmar counterpart Wunna Muang Lwin on the sidelines of the 24th ASEAN Summit in Naypyidaw.
In a media announcement, Marty said: “The agreement is expected to tighten the connectivity between the two countries in the tourism sector, people-to-people contact, and the economic and investment cooperation.”
Wunna Muang Lwin also expected the agreement to grow bilateral trade between Indonesia and Myanmar to a target of US$1 billion by 2016.
The visa waiver policy reflects ASEAN’s plans to introduce a common visa for the whole region with the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community 2015 (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 21, 2014).
Myanmar has already signed visa-free agreements with Brunei, Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines and Vietnam, and is currently in talks with Malaysia and Singapore.
