The APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation)
Business Travel Card (ABTC)

Business people can visit APEC economies only with passports and ABTC, WITHOUT VISA.

Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, China, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, The Philippines, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, and Viet Nam
Japan started operation of ABTC on April 1, 2003.

Passport holder of a participating economy
Business travelers (trade and investment activities) in the region
Not convicted of a criminal offence

Government/Authorities of each economy issues ABTC.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan issues ABTC to Japanese business people.

The Card is valid for 3 years from the date of issue.

ABTC holders can use special processing lanes at the airports.

Three members (Australia, Korea and the Philippines) started ABTC Scheme in 1997 on trail. Chile and Hong Kong joined the Scheme in April 1998.
After a successful evaluation, the ABTC Scheme commenced permanent operations from March 1, 1999.
New Zealand and Malaysia announced their intentions to join the ABTC Scheme in March 1999; Brunei Darussalam, Peru and Thailand in February 2001; China in February 2002; Indonesia in August 2002; Japan in October 2002; Viet Nam and Papua New Guinea in May 2003; Singapore in February 2004.
Prime Minister of Japan Jun'ichiro Koizumi announced Japan's intention to join the ABTC Scheme during APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in October 2002 in Los Cabos, Mexico.