New Legislation adding the U.S. to the APEC Business Card Program is
Good for Travel and U.S. Economy

Alexandria, VA (November 15, 2011) —The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the voice of the global business travel industry, today issued the following statement in response to President Barack Obama’s signing of legislation (S.1487) to participate in Asia-Pacific Economic Corporation’s Business Travel Card (ABTC) program. The ABTC program facilitates international travel by allowing short-term entry for pre-cleared business travelers to participating member economies including Australia, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and more.

GBTA executive director and COO Michael W. McCormick commented:

“Face to face meetings are irreplaceable when it comes to creating and fortifying strong business relationships – and as the economy becomes increasingly global, so too must travel. By participating in this program, the federal government is encouraging international travel and allowing new working relationships to be formed more easily, which is good for the U.S. economy. U.S. participation in this program is a positive development that will facilitate business travel and support economic growth.”

Valid for three years, the APEC Business Travel Card program allows for pre-cleared, short-term entry as well as expedited customs processing into participating APEC member territories. H.R. 2042 would partially fulfill the U.S. commitment to join the ABTC program by requiring the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to establish a program to issue APEC business travel cards and integrate them with existing registered traveler programs, such as Global Entry, NEXUS, and SENTRI. According to APEC, the United States recognizes the business travel card for expedited visa appointments at U.S. embassies and consulates abroad, but it does not substitute for a U.S. visa.

For more information on the APEC Business Travel Card program, visit: www.apec.org.

CONTACT:          
Meghan Henning, +1 703-236-1133, mhenning@gbta.org
Jamie Colunga, +1 212-446-1877, jcolunga@sloanepr.com

About the Global Business Travel Association
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) is the world’s premier business travel and meetings organization. Collectively, GBTA’s 5,000-plus members manage over $340 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually. GBTA provides its network of 17,000 business and government travel and meetings managers, as well as travel service providers, with networking events, news, education & professional development, research, and advocacy. For more information, visit gbta.org