Jakarta: Following the initiative's recent launch in seven countries, Indonesia has welcomed Saudi Arabia's electronic visa facility, Jakarta's envoy in Jeddah said on Wednesday.
In order to improve the standard of its consular services, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs last week introduced an initiative that will replace visa stickers with an electronic visa that will enable travellers' data to be read via a QR code.
According to a statement from the ministry, the initiative's first phase has been put into practise in seven nations, including the UAE, Bangladesh, and Indonesia.
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Eko Hartono said, "I applaud the Saudi government's initiative to have e-visa for countries, and they started with some countries like Indonesia."
For the Saudi (government) to digitalize the issuance of visas, this is undoubtedly a positive step and a crucial step, he said. "I would say that the issuance of e-visas will benefit the movement of people from Indonesia."
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Hartono called attention to prospective visitors who lived outside of Indonesia's major cities, predicting that Indonesians from all over the archipelago would be eager to take advantage of the new initiative.
"I would anticipate that they will find ways to make it easier for people to get e-visas in the future," he said. "If they need to go to the Saudi Embassy (in Jakarta) or VFS (Visa Facilitation Services), it takes time, it's very expensive, and, of course, it's not convenient for the people."
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The most recent development occurs as the Kingdom updates visa policies and relaxes visa requirements in an effort to draw in more tourists and businesses from abroad.
A "Schengen-style" visa for travellers has reportedly been discussed by the Gulf Cooperation Council, of which Saudi Arabia is a member, in an effort to increase tourism in the area.
