MANILA, Philippines -- A joint visa among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) were discussed Tuesday during a bilateral meeting between President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat , a Palace official said.Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said a joint visa would allow a non-Asian to go to any ASEAN destination using a single visa. ASEAN groups the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, and Laos. “If there is a non-Asian coming to Asia and they need a passport, they only have to get one passport and it will cover the whole ASEAN,” Dureza told reporters Monday night before leaving for the United States to join President Arroyo’s delegation. “They have discussed this preliminarily and they said this is something we can do together in the ASEAN,” he said. During the meeting, Dureza said there was also a mention of a “joint tourism” where both countries would have a single tourism package. He said the two leaders also discussed about cooperation in defense sector, and some issues relating to protecting each other's investors. “Because Thailand now has one of the biggest GDP [Gross Domestic Product] in this part of the world so investors are looking at possible investments here and our Filipinos also looking at possible investments in Thailand,” he said. Dureza said Arroyo also took the opportunity to thank the Prime Minister for the eight OV-10s that the Thai government donated to the country and which were now being used by the military. In November next year, Queen Sirikit of Thailand might also come to the Philippines for the 60th anniversary of friendship between the two countries, the Palace official said. | 
