Kutse edastamine

H. E. Mr. Andres Sutt Minister for Entrepreneurship and Information Technology Republic of Estonia Talli n n Tallinn, June 3rd 2022 Your Excellency,, v 1 have the honour to enclose herewith copy of the letter that the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism of Spain, H. E. Mrs. Maria Reyes Maroto Illera has asked me to convey to you. 1 remain faithfully yours, /i Guillermo Corral van Damme Ambassador of Spain  »QECD BETrEI1 POLICIES F01 SETrER IlVES HE, Mr, Andres Sutt Minister for Entrepreneurship and Information Technology Estonia MC/2022.047.els 02 May 2022 Dear Minister, The Govemment ot Spain and the OECD, in support of the Indonesian G20 Presidency have the pleasure of inviting you to a high-Ievel meeting on Safe International Travel with Ministers of Health and Tourism from OECD and other countries and relevant international organisations, which wiIl be held in Ibiza, Spain in the afternoon ot 7 July and ali day on 8 July, 2022. The objective of this high-level meeng is to provide vital political momentum to work needed to adapt current protocols and accelerate safe internaonaI (ravel as the wod transitions to a phase where COVID-1 9 becomes endemic and its outcome is expected to provide a recommendation for Indonesia to consider including for discussion at the G20 Leader’s summit in October. The meeting wiIl explore how best to align different national measures, including testing requirements and quarantine measures according to risk assessments of travellers, and how to ensure interoperability or recognition between the different international approaches for demonstrating vaccination and testing status. The discussion wiIl focus on the current situation, and explore how countries might respond to future variants of concern. However, there will also be an opportunhty to suggest lessons Iearnt in terms of travel policies that might have broader applicability for future pandemics. The international travel sector has been impacted more than any other sector by COVID-1 9 restcons and a fail in passenger confldence. In April 2020, international tourism arrivals had fallen by 97% relative to April 2019. Although passenger numbers are gradually increasing, a tuli recovery is far from being realised. By December 2021, international tousrn arvals remained 65% be?ow the December 2019 level. The impact on national economies, particularly countries whose economies are reliant on tourism, is enormous. In the initial phase of the pandemic, many countries introduced a range of measures that reduced international mobility, including border closures or quarantine requirements that aimed to contain or to slow the spread of the virus. While efforts continue to end the current pandemic, it is likely that the world wiII, at some point in the future, reach a phase where the virus becomes endemic. Today, with the expansion of vaccinahon against COVID-1 9, many countries are in an intermediate phase between the pandemic and the virus being endemic. They have started to relax initial travel bans and quaranfine requirements, relying more on evidence of negative test results, or vaccination status. As the number of vaccinated people increases, it is important to consider what changes to policies such as testing and quarantine and global interoperability of vaccinaon certificates would be most appropriate in this intermediate phase of the pandemics management.  lnvitations letters are being simultaneously sent to Ministers of Health and Tourism, and we strongly encourage delegations to include representatives from both sectors. The meeting room at the venue wiII be able to accommodate the Head of Delegation +1, for each invited country and international organisation, with a Iistening room for other delegates. Registration for the event or any additional information should be requested by sending an email to safeinternationaItraveI2O22oecd .org. We look forward to welcoming you to lbiza. L Kind regards, Maria Reyes Mathias Cormann Minister of lndustry, Trade and Tourism Secretary-General Spain OECD Cc: H.E. Mr. Priit Pallum, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Estonia to the OECD