Business travel to Vietnam will become easier for some

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Business travel to Vietnam is about to become easier following a recent announcement that Vietnam will shortly join sixteen other participating Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation economies in the APEC Business Travel Card program.

Vietnam expects to commence its APEC Business Travel Card operation early in 2006.

The APEC Card is credit-card size, contains personal identity details, substitutes for a visa, and is valid for up to three years for multiple short-term business visits.

Participating economies of the scheme include: Australia, Brunei, Chile, The Peoples' Republic of China, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Chinese Taipei.

The APEC Business Travel Card system is an Australian initiative in APEC that allows streamlined travel to, entry, and departure from participating economies through a system of clearances, reducing the need to apply for multiple visas.

Before each cardholder is issued a card, their entry is cleared by the participating APEC members, and then on arrival they are fast-tracked through special APEC lanes at international airports.