 Hi, I'm Kim Blister-Martis, and I'm the convener of the APEC Business Mobility Group. I'm excited to welcome you to the new Virtual APEC Business Travel Card, also known as the Virtual ABTC, a new and secure method for presenting your ABTC using a smart device. The Virtual ABTC has been developed to allow approved card holders from fully participating APEC member economies to securely display their ABTC on their smart device, removing the need to carry a physical ABTC. It transitions the ABTC scheme into the modern and digitised era of global travel. The Virtual ABTC also employs additional features for greater security and confidence, including generating a unique application number for all newly approved ABTC applicants and ensuring that their credentials are authenticated and verified when logging onto the Virtual ABTC app. To access and use the Virtual ABTC, you must be an approved ABTC holder from a fully participating APEC member economy whose home economy provides access to the Virtual ABTC service for its card holders. All economies, including transitional members, will accept the Virtual ABTC for use at international ports of entries from the 1st of March 2021. Each economy will determine its own timeline in transitioning to the use of the Virtual ABTC for its card holders. Please consult with your home economy for further details. As you pass through an international port, you will be required to present your Virtual ABTC on your smart device using the Virtual ABTC app. Current entry and exit processes remain the same, regardless of whether you are using your Virtual ABTC or the physical card. The Virtual ABTC is simply a digital version of the physical card. As your Virtual ABTC is linked to the ABTC system, any changes and updates to your ABTC status will be reflected in real time on your Virtual ABTC. So once pre-clearance to enter an economy has been approved, this will be immediately updated and displayed on the Virtual ABTC. This allows you to begin using your Virtual ABTC right away without having to wait for every economy to provide their pre-clearance assessment. It is important before travelling to ensure that your ABTC remains valid for your entry, departure and for the duration of your stay in the economy you intend to travel to. This is easy to do by opening your Virtual ABTC on your smart device and looking at the clearance status for each economy. The information here is updated and displayed automatically when you are connected to the internet. You can also check the status online using the ABTC pre-clearance status tracker, which can also be accessed by clicking on the link in the Virtual ABTC app. The Virtual ABTC's connectivity to real-time data is dependent on an internet connection on your smart device. However, if you are unable to connect your smart device to the internet while travelling, you will still be able to display the most recent data on your Virtual ABTC on arrival at your destination economy. This is because your ABTC status and pre-clearance information from the last time you logged on and accessed the Virtual ABTC app, typically on your departure, is stored on your smart device for a period of time. The Virtual ABTC will also display a date and timestamp of your last login and refresh. To ensure the stored information is as accurate as possible, it is important that you log in to the Virtual ABTC app as close as possible to your departing flight and keep your smart device sufficiently charged. You can easily access links to additional information including Frequently Asked Questions and the APEC.org website and terms and conditions for using the Virtual ABTC app. If you experience any difficulties with your Virtual ABTC, lose your smart device or there is missing or incomplete information on the Virtual ABTC, please contact your home economy in the first instance. For any technical issues with the use of your Virtual ABTC and the app, please contact the Office of the APEC Business Mobility Group Convener by emailing apecathomeaffairs.gov.au