KUALA LUMPUR, July 25, 2006 (AFP) - Southeast Asian foreign ministers Tuesday signed an agreement allowing greater visa-free travel within the region in a move seen as a major boost to tourism in an era of cheap air travel. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ministers took a respite from tension-filled discussions on rogue member state Myanmar to sign the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Visa Exemption. The pact will allow two-week visa-free entry for ASEAN nationals travelling within the bloc. The agreement will take effect once it is ratified by all 10 member countries. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Bilateral agreements between some ASEAN countries requiring their nationals to obtain visas currently limit intra-regional travel. Myanmar requires a visa for all visitors into the military-ruled nation, including those from ASEAN countries. "It is a step in the right direction. We are excited about it. For sure it will encourage intra-ASEAN travel," said Tony Fernandes, chief executive of Malaysian budget airline AirAsia. "When travel is made easy and cheap, it will spur people to travel and AirAsia will benefit," he told AFP. "We are best placed to take advantage of it." Fernandes said he hopes goverments will subsequently reduce airport taxes and other travel-related levies "to make ASEAN a common market for travel". AirAsia flies to all ASEAN nations except Laos. ASEAN spokesman M.C. Abad said the agreement would help integrate the region. "This agreement should contribute to promoting people-to-people contact in Southeast Asia. It could increase tourism in the ASEAN region," he said. ASEAN countries recorded 51.39 million visitor arrivals in 2005, 45 percent of whom were from other nations within the bloc, Abad told AFP. Former ASEAN secretary general Rodolfo Severino also hailed the multilateral pact. "It's good because everybody is committed to it and it's harder to get out of the agreement," Severino said. "If it's on a bilateral basis, it's easier to get rid of it." Severino also said that Myanmar's move to become part of the agreement indicated a change in policy in that country. "That's a political decision on their part. If indeed they are in the same status as the rest of ASEAN, then it is a policy change that they have undertaken." mba/dk/sst