Indonesia is considering granting visa-free entry to nationals of 20 countries, including the United States, China, Australia, India, South Korea, Germany, Britain and France, to boost its tourism and economy, its Tourism Minister Sandiaga Uno said yesterday.
According to a statement, the government will finalise the list of countries included in the provision within one month.
Sandiaga said the president had instructed the government to consider the visa waiver to boost the economy, tourism visits, and investment.
According to official data, there were over 16 million foreign arrivals in Indonesia in pre-pandemic 2019.
From January to October this year, Indonesia received 9.49 million foreign visitors, an increase of 124.3 per cent from the same period in 2022.
Indonesia is the latest country in Southeast Asia to consider waiving visas for China, a major travel market, following Singapore, which on the same day said a 30-day mutual visa exemption with China would be implemented early next year.
Thailand and Malaysia have also waived visas for visitors from China and India.
Reuters
