Jakarta - Indonesia is to  implement a new, and  more lenient Visa-on-Arrival (VoA) system for citizens of  many countries starting in February 2010, a Culture and Tourism Ministry official said.

     "The new VoA service will improve Indonesia's image as a world destination and hopefully encourage  more foreign tourists to visit Indonesia. Tourists can be issued visas in 15 minutes on board their flights, before landing on Indonesia soil," I Gde Pitana, director of marketing at the ministry, said here Saturday.  

     He said the VoA service was designed for  foreigners coming to Indonesia for holidaying ,  social, business or official visits.

     The new policy was expected to increase the flow of tourists  to Indonesia and thus also the country's foreign exchange earnings.

     "We are optimistic that the program will receive a good response from tourists," he added.

     The citizens of  more than 50 countries were eligible for the VoA facility,  namely  Japan, South Africa, Algeria, United States, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, the Netherlands,  Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Czech, Cyprus, Denmark, United Arab Emirates, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, India, England, Iran, Ireland, Hungary, Italy and Iceland.

     Other countries were  Germany, Cambodia, Canada, South Korea, Kuwait, Laos, Latvia, Libya, Liechthstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Maldives, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Norway, Oman, Panama, France, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, China, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Swiss, Taiwan, Tunisia, and Greece.

     By paying US$25 for  the VoA facility tourists can stay in Indonesia 30 days  and extend their visa  for another 30 days without having to exit Indonesia first. Previously, the permissible length of stay was only 10 days with an extension possible only after leaving the country.

-Antara, 24 January 2010-