Date:09/12/2004 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2004/12/09/stories/2004120902130400.htm

Back Malaysia to review I-visa pilot project

Our Bureau

Chennai , Dec. 8

THE Malaysian government will review the Internet (I) visa scheme implemented in Chennai as a pilot project, by the end of this year.

The I-visa scheme, under which travel agents could apply for a visa online with a Rs 3.5-lakh bank guarantee, was introduced in the city in March.

The Assistant High Commissioner for Malaysia, Mr Rosli Ismail, told Business Line that the scheme would be reviewed on whether or not to extend it. The only other city where the I-visa has been introduced is in Shanghai, China.

The office of the Malaysian Assistant High Commissioner in Chennai, which serves the four Southern States and Pondicherry, has issued 48,349 visas from January to November this year, with 21,164 being social visas and 27,185 I-visas. Last year, the number of Malaysian visas issued was 58,397.

Every year nearly 14 million foreign tourists visit Malaysia. Mr Ismail said 0.2 million Indians have visited Malaysia and were second only to the Chinese in number. The number of tourists from South India visiting Malaysia has been going up since the Visit Malaysia promotion was launched in 1990.

Mr Ismail said the Southern region, especially Tamil Nadu, had historic and cultural links with Malaysia, as a large majority of the Malaysian Indian population were of Tamil origin. The visit of the Malaysian Prime Minister to India this month and the India-Malaysia Economic Summit in Kuala Lumpur in January will strengthen economic and tourism ties between both countries, he said.