The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Travel Card (ABTC) is a card issued to business travelers and senior-level management of companies who meet certain requirements. APEC manages the ABTC program, which it refers to as the ABTC scheme. The ABTC scheme seeks to facilitate travel in the APEC region. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, APEC started to shift ABTC cards from physical to virtual. The Virtual ABTC was created for convenience, to bring the ABTC Scheme into modern and digitized, a more secure, efficient, convenient, and user-friendly service. This virtual card is accessible via an APEC-created mobile app.
MBC is one of only three business organizations authorized by the Department of Foreign Affairs to endorse applicants for the APEC Business Travel Card to the DFA.
Successful applicants from fully participating economies are issued with a five-year card that serves as the entry authority to other fully participating economies which have granted pre-clearance for short-term business travel of up to 60 or 90 days. The card also enables holders to fast track immigration processing at each economy’s major international airports. Note that Canada and the United States of America (the United States) are transitional members of the ABTC scheme and do not offer reciprocal entry arrangements, but do provide fast track immigration processing at major international airports.