The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is an organization of Asia-Pacific nations aiming to build economic cooperation. APEC was founded in Canberra in November 1989. Currently, APEC has 21 members: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, China, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, United States, Vietnam, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea.
The high mobility of businesspeople from APEC member countries requires time efficiency. Therefore, they greatly need ease in the immigration process. Based on these considerations, an agreement and recommendation from the APEC forum arose to provide convenience in immigration traffic for businesspeople from APEC member countries under the APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC) scheme.
To accommodate businesspeople, Indonesia signed its participation in the APEC Business Travel Card scheme on August 15, 2002, in Acapulco, Mexico. The implementation of issuing the APEC Business Travel Card began on May 1, 2004. This card is valid in 19 APEC member countries that implement the scheme. The aim is to expedite the entry and exit process to a country for its holders, namely business actors who highly value time.
With the APEC Business Travel Card, businesspeople no longer need to apply for a visa each time they travel to APEC member countries. They also receive special lane service facilities at airports.