Plan to revoke visa-free facility criticized

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government's plan to abolish the visa-free facility given to nationals of certain countries has drawn strong criticism from investment and tourism experts, who have said the move would be a setback to the country's economic recovery process.

Businessman and chairman of the National Economic Recovery Committee (KPEN) Sofjan Wanandi said that revocation of the facility would only hurt relations with important countries like the U.S., Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, which have been major sources of foreign investment and trading partners.

"The government must have lost its mind," he told The Jakarta Post.

He was referring to an earlier report in this newspaper that the Directorate General of Immigration had proposed the abolition of the visa-free facility currently extended to citizens of 48 countries, including the U.S., Japan, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, France, South Korea and Taiwan.

Under the plan, the facility would be revoked starting next year, and would be given to the nationals of 14 countries.

The visa-free facility, first introduced in 1983 in a bid to attract more foreign tourists, allows foreign visitors to enter the country without a visa if they stay no longer than two months.

But the immigration office has argued that the facility has often been abused by foreigners who work in the country illegally or conduct other non-tourism-related activities. Another reason is the reciprocity issue, as many Indonesian often face difficulty in obtaining travel documents from the above countries.

Sofjan said that the government should not take such a retaliatory measure, particularly at a time when Indonesia is facing economic difficulties.

Meanwhile, chairman of the Indonesian Culture and Tourism Board at the State Ministry of Tourism and Culture Setyanto P. Santosa said that the plan would further discourage foreign tourists from entering the country.

"The plan is a setback; Indonesia will fade from the international tourism map," said Setyanto.

The plan is currently being discussed with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the State Ministry of Tourism and Culture, the National Police and the immigration office.

Setyanto said that other countries in Southeast Asia were racing to provide the facility to boost state income from the tourism sector, and to attract investors.

In comparison, Malaysia currently grants a visa-free facility to 130 countries, Thailand 150 and Vietnam to all countries for a five-day stay.

Tourism experts have said that instead of abolishing completely the visa-free facility, the government should instead reduce the length of the permitted visa-free stay from 60 days to 30 days.