Guidelines will be established to facilitate such travel, which should be for the purposes of .
They also agreed to expedite Customs procedures and refrain from introducing export restrictions on essential items such as food and medical supplies, as well as ensure that logistics networks continue to operate via air, sea and land freight.
The five ministers issued a joint statement on Friday morning, after a video conference, detailing action plans to facilitate the flow of goods and services as well as the essential movement of people.
For example, expediting Customs procedures could involve greater use of electronic means for customs processing, which minimise face-to-face interactions without lengthening processing times.
Bilateral and/or multilateral cooperative arrangements could also help expedite necessary approval procedures for air crew and the utilisation of additional aircraft for cargo operations.
The ministers also committed to minimising the impact of Covid-19 on trade and investment, and facilitating economic recovery from the pandemic.
This would entail working closely with key multilateral economic institutions like the World Trade Organisation, sharing of best practices and consulting with the private sector to come up with solutions, they said.
"If we can work together on similar standards for reassurance, that will be a great help towards the resumption of travel. This will also allow the inter-dependency of supply chains to resume."
