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Business Mobility Group  

APEC Member Economies are committed to enhancing business mobility by exchanging information on regulatory regimes, streamlining the processing of short-term inmigration for business purposes and related procedures for temporary residence of business people, maintaining a fluid dialogue on these issues with the business community. This work is coordinated by the Business Mobility Group (BMG), formerly known as Informal Experts' Group on Business Mobility (IEGBM).

Business and Private Sector Participation
The
APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) has made facilitation of business travel a priority. The Committee on Trade and Investment's agenda on business mobility has resulted from ABAC's recommendations, and the BMG liaises closely with ABAC on these developments. The business/private sector has also been closely consulted in the development of the APEC Business Travel Card scheme and the introduction of other APEC initiatives. ABAC continues to be a strong promoter of the APEC Business Travel Card.

Latest Developments
The BMG is also dedicated to work on initiatives to improve immigration processing, to make it faster and smoother for travelers, and to more effectively assure passenger safety and border security. Specifically, members are continuing on a pathfinder basis, the implementation of Advanced Passenger Information (API) systems. Additionally, the BMG is progressing on a new
Regional Movement Alert System, by continuing towards developing the capacity for positive validation of passports, effectively enhancing security through coordination among border agencies without noticeably impeding travelers' movements. Australia, the United States and New Zealand have implemented the system, and more BMG members are expected to participate in the future.

The BMG is also developing standards that will assist economies in improving the quality and consistency of their immigration services and systems. Standards have been developed for professional conduct for immigration officers; immigration legal infrastructure; improved travel document security and related issuing and storage systems; and transparency. The BMG's agreed capacity building is to set best practice standards against which all economies can self-assess their existing regimes and develop their own tailored strategic action plans to implement the agreed standards. Technical and training assistance is provided to economies to build their capacity to implement the standards.

Also, economies continue work, on a 'best endeavors' basis, to streamline processing of temporary business residency permits and process applications from intra-company transfers within 30 days, where all documentation is complete.

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APEC Business Travel Card scheme

As a major support to business mobility, the
APEC Business Travel Card scheme provides bona fide frequent business travelers with visa-free travel and expedited airport processing when visiting participating economies. APEC Member Economies fully participating in the scheme include Australia; Brunei Darussalam; Chile; China; Hong Kong,China; Indonesia; Japan; Korea; Malaysia; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Peru; Philippines; Singapore; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; and Viet Nam. Mexico is partly operational and is expected to become a full member by end 2008. In September 2007, the United States became a "transitional member" of the scheme with the aim of becoming a full participant within three years.

When Senior Officials met in May 2008, Canada advised it would be seeking formal agreement at when they meet again in August to join the ABTC scheme as a transitional member. At that point, 20 economies will be members of the ABTC scheme by the end of 2008.

The BMG has established 2 sub-working groups to examine the options for managing the rapid growth of the ABTC scheme and to look at ways to enhance it, including ABAC's suggestion to look at the viability of enhancing the card with biometrics.

At their last meeting held in Arequipa, APEC member economies agreed to cooperate to share information and best practices on immigration legislation, relevant policies, procedures and technologies.

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Key Outcomes
 

Key outcomes in the area of business mobility include -


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Contact Information

Convenor of the Business Mobility Group
Mr. Todd Frew
First Assistant Secretary
Department of Immigration and Citizenship
P.O. Box 25
Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia
E-mail:
apec@immi.gov.au

APEC Secretariat
Mr. Jorge Iglesias
Director (Program)
E-mail: jai@apec.org

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Business Mobility Group