Indonesia plans to waive visa norms for 25 countries

Jakarta, March 16 (Antara) - Indonesia plans to waive visa requirements for citizens from 25 countries in order to promote the growth of tourism. Minister of Tourism Arief Yahya, after attending a meeting of the Coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs Monday, said the government will grant visa-free access to four more countries, namely China, South Korea, Russia, and Japan. "Besides the four countries, we will announce the names of 21 more countries. Most of them are European while some are American countries," Arief stated. The visa-free policy is expected to help the government achieve its target of receiving 10 million tourists in 2015 and to boost the state's revenue from the tourism sector. Indonesia currently provides visas on arrival for tourists from 15 countries/regions such as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Hong Kong Special Administration Region, Macau Special Administration Region, Chile, Morocco, Peru, and Ecuador. The Indonesian Government has set a target to receive 20 million tourists by 2019. Indonesia recorded 9,435,411 tourist arrivals in 2014, up 7.2 percent from 8,802,129 recorded in 2013.