A proposal to give Taiwanese visa-free access has been submitted to the Indonesian Directorate-General of Immigration for approval, Indonesian Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno said yesterday.
Sandiaga yesterday met with foreign reporters to explain Indonesia’s “golden visa” and “second home visa” programs.
He is scheduled to leave his post tomorrow before the inauguration of Prabowo Subianto as Indonesian president on Monday and the transition to a new government.
Photo: Bloomberg
He also said there are investment opportunities in several special tourism economic zones in Indonesia, adding that he hoped foreign companies would invest in different cities across the country.
Although the Indonesian government reiterated it would consider providing visa-exempt entry for 20 regions and countries — including Taiwan — Taiwan was not included on the visa exemption list announced last month.
“It is unsatisfactory that the Indonesian government only approved visa-free entry for 13 regions and countries,” while Malaysia and Thailand have already granted visa exemption for many countries, he told reporters.
The Indonesian Directorate-General of Immigration “reviews the list of visa-free countries every three months,” he said, adding that the agency would become a non-ministerial department under the new Cabinet.
Sandiaga said he expects “the visa exemption program to be developed to include China and Taiwan, as well as the top 20 countries visiting Indonesia, such as Australia, India, the US and European countries.”
The immigration agency has the authority to approve visa-free countries, and would make final decisions based on interagency discussion, he added.
Visa exemption is one of the key strategic policies to boost tourism in Indonesia, he said, citing the World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Development Index as showing that Indonesia ranked 22 globally this year.
“The visa programs are crucial for Indonesia to make it to the top 10 in the index,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian government would take part in an international travel fair in Taiwan next year, with two charter flights per week operating between airports in Taipei and in Banyuwangi from the beginning of the Lunar New Year, he said.
“As the Ijen volcano complex and Mount Bromo have become very popular among Taiwanese and Chinese tourists, the direct flights from Taipei to Banyuwangi are expected to attract more tourists from Taiwan and China to Indonesia,” he said.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
RSS