ASEAN countries continue to battle a resurgence in COVID-19 cases, fuelled by the outbreak of the Delta variant and made worse by the uneven rollout and take-up rate of vaccinations. The region risks falling behind others, as prolonged travel bans and retightened lockdown measures threaten to delay economic recovery. The IMF continues to downgrade its growth forecast for ASEAN’s five largest economies – Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam – projecting a 0.6-point drop for this year.

One vital element for ASEAN’s economic recovery is cross-border movements of people and the reopening of travel. Travel and tourism made up 12.4% of the region’s GDP in 2015, compared to the global average of 9.8%, and by 2025, the sector was expected to account for around 7% of jobs in the region. However, while travel arrangements between some individual ASEAN member-states and countries outside of ASEAN have been forged (mainly on medium or long-haul routes), there is still a significant absence of such agreements within the region. Experts have noted the potential of intra-regional travel for economic revival and growth – such movement accounted for up to 40% of all trips across ASEAN in 2019 – but there cannot be a conversation about travel lanes without mutual recognition of COVID-19 vaccination certificates, both physical and digital. And, as the world collectively embarks on a recovery that is resilient, the travel and tourism sector too needs to relook how it can rekindle growth in a sustainable manner.

- What are the key areas and solutions needed to resume international travel, with priority given to movement within the region?
- How can ASEAN leaders work towards establishing a system that mutually recognises vaccine certificates issued by the 10 member states? And why is it taking them so long to do so?
- How can we prevent the counterfeiting of the COVID-19 vaccine certificates? How can the public and private sectors ensure that test results are legitimate? What are the safeguards that should be in place?
- Given that COVID-19 continues to spread (with some countries treating it as endemic), is vaccine certification the only solution to border reopening?
- How can the travel and tourism industry ensure that it can grow in a sustainable manner?

свернуть