Bangalore: To facilitate more tourist traffic and investments into Malaysia from India, the Malaysian Government has eased visa regulations, announced packages for acquiring property and other incentives for joint venture partnerships.

Announcing this at a press conference here, Malaysian Minister for Tourism Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said Indian tourists could now get visa on arrival, valid for 30 days. The visa charge would be RM 100 (Malaysian ringitt) or Rs. 1,245 at the port of entry.

Mr. Mansor said these initiatives formed part of the "Visit Malaysia Year 2007," when it celebrates its golden jubilee. Malaysia expected around four lakh Indians to visit the country next year, up from 2.26 lakh in 2005. Indians were among the high spenders and total tourism receipts from India was over 72 per cent in 2005 from the previous year, closing at RM 557.5 million (Rs. 695 crore).

With regard to the MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) market, he said conference arrivals from India had witnessed growth of over 28 per cent in 2005 from the previous year. "With this new regime of visa on arrival, we are confident these arrivals will reach close to 50,000 (23,302 in 2005) in 2007.

The Tourism Ministry, he said, would soon launch a major campaign in India to encourage Indian investments in Malaysian real estate and property. The scheme would allow Indians to own houses, flats, villas and resorts in Malaysia. The requirement was a deposit of $75,000 (U.S.) in a Malaysian bank, of which $60,000 could be re-invested after the first year. The scheme, which gave multiple-entry visa, had attracted 490 Indians till now, he added.

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