Tamil Nadu - Chennai   

Malaysia to launch "e-visa" on March 6

Special Correspondent

It will help the country attract 3,50,000 tourists from India by 2007

CHENNAI: As part of its efforts to woo global tourists, especially the Asia Pacific market, the Malaysian Government will launch "e-visa" on March 6 to replace the present I-visa to facilitate easier entry.

This facility will also help the country achieve the target of attracting 3,50,000 tourists from India by 2007, the "Visit Malaysia Year" (VMY).

At a tourism sales mission, which was launched here on February 19 as a prelude to the VMY campaign, Mirza Mohammad Taiyab Beg, Deputy Director General of Tourism Malaysia, told presspersons on Saturday that India emerged as the top 10 tourist market for Malaysia. With the help of a joint committee set up as part of the Malaysia Singapore Tourism Council (MSTC), Tourism Malaysia was working to tap the "long-haul tourist market". In 2004, Malaysia received 149,287 visitors from India; in 2005, the number rose to 187,918, an increase of 25.9 per cent. This growth compelled Tourism Malaysia to launch the Rs.120-million promotional campaign in India. Tourism Malaysia also planned to roll out specific thematic campaigns to capture the Asia market.

Rosli Bin Ismail, Consul for Malaysia Consulate in Chennai, said the e-visa system would come into force in Chennai only after the formal receipt of an official circular from the Ministry concerned. An official announcement would be made in Kuala Lumpur on Monday. The system would reduce the time needed for issuing a visa from the present three working days and make the process hassle-free. The visa fee had to remitted through credit card. In 2005, the Malaysia Consulate in Chennai issued 76,673 tourist visas, besides the issue of "visa on arrival" to those who already had the Singapore and Thailand visas and entered Malaysia through the Kuala Lumpur International Airport gateway. Tajul Ariffin Kamat, Area Manager, Malaysia Airlines, said the airlines had a large presence in India, with 33 weekly flights linking seven Indian destinations.

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