Sri Lankan businessmen travelling to countries in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region will soon be able to travel without visa and the SAARC Secretariat has already taken measures to identify them as a separate category under its visa exemption scheme, according to a top official from the SAARC Secretariat.

Economics, Trade and Finance Division Director at the secretariat, Amrit Lugun said when he met the core group of immigration and visa experts in July, they had decided to identify the businessmen as a separate category and they were now working towards liberalizing visa for the businessmen in the region.

“When we met the immigration and visa experts from the region to expand the scope of the SAARC visa exemption scheme, we discussed this in detail and a report was also sent to all the foreign ministries of the member countries,” he said last week in Colombo.

He further said the ‘SAARC visa sticker scheme’ which allows visa-free travel for selected categories had so far progressed satisfactorily and even the businessmen who have this sticker could travel within the region visa-free.

Meanwhile, SAARC SecretaryGeneral Ahmed Saleem was also reported to have urged the officers to simplify the procedures in the issuance of stickers to these categories, including the businessmen. “I would like to urge this meeting to revisit the procedures to make them simple and achievable,” he was quoted as saying in July.

Asked when the entire 1.6 billion people in the region would be able to move freely across borders between the member countries, Lugun said although the work was progressing towards that direction, it would take more time due to various national fears.

Addressing a media conference following the end of the sixth meeting of the SAARC Finance Ministers and Secretaries held in Colombo, he said, the progress had become slow due to various fears expressed by the member countries such as terrorism, human smuggling and narcotics, etc.

“Nevertheless, we have attempted to liberalize visa within these constraints with the ultimate objective of putting in place a visa-free regime in South Asia,” he said.

The SAARC visa exemption scheme currently entitles a limited number of people to visa-free travel within the region. Since it came into operation in 1992, the scheme now has 24 categories of entitled persons and the list is bound to grow with the passage of time. (DK)