Bangkok, Oct 05: Leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) are to put their names to a regional open sky agreement when they meet on the Indonesian island of Bali for their leadership summit on Tuesday and Wednesday. Top of the agenda for Thailand would be the open-sky policy agreed among five Asean nations, said Thai Commerce Minister Adisai Bodharamik.

The Five Asean nations who have agreed on the open-sky policy are Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Singapore and Malaysia. Adisai predicted that an agreement on this policy would be signed during the meeting, and that it would be enforced within two years.

He expressed confidence that the policy would lead to more intra-regional tourism, as well as pulling down airfares.

Thailand was likely to see a two-fold increase in tourist arrivals as a result of the policy, he said, adding that the remaining Asean countries were likely to join the scheme in the future. The commerce minister said Thailand would also discuss other agreements, including a framework trade agreement, a single Asean market, and the creation of Asean brand names at the summit.

Bureau Report