Asean Body Steps in to Help Budget Airlines
Asean Body Steps in to Help Budget Airlines
(SINGAPORE) The Asean Business Advisory Council (BAC) wants more landing rights for budget airlines in Asean-plus countries, or Asean plus China, South Korea, Japan.
Through the Asean Pioneer Project Scheme (APPS), the BAC also hopes to facilitate the development of three-star hotel chains across the region.
'The APPS hopes to expedite projects by providing fast-track approvals in regulatory procedures such as custom clearance, technical regulations and product standards. . .For example, the APPS will help to clear red tape by negotiating with the relevant Asean governments and authorities to help budget airlines get landing rights to or from Asean destinations,' said Oudet Souvannavong, chairman of The Asean BAC.
The Asean BAC will also make the representation to Asean governments on behalf of private-sector bodies for the development of three-star hotel chains, Mr Oudet told a press conference yesterday.
The Asean BAC, set up in April last year, is mandated by the heads of state of the 10 Asean nations and thus its words will carry more weight in negotiations, Mr Oudet said.
Promoting economic integration in the region to speed up the move towards an Asean Economic Community is the main aim of the APPS. And it seeks to do so by nurturing more regional MNCs to increase trade and investment flows.
Mr Oudet explained that helping the budget airline industry take off in the region will set off a chain of benefits that will ultimately help Asean SMEs grow into Asean MNCs.
'It will benefit hotels, restaurants, handicraft shops and many more industries. More joint ventures between Asean businesses can take place and these businesses can hopefully become Asean brands,' Mr Oudet said.
Besides the tourism sector, the APPS will also be launched in the agriculture sector. More details will be rolled out during the Asean Business and Investment Summit in Laos from Nov 27 to 28.
Mr Oudet hopes at least 10 MOUs will be signed between business partners from different Asean countries as well as China, India, Japan, Korea, etc during the summit. The summit will be attended by heads of state as well as business leaders.