PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia is revving up efforts for tourists to have more positive experiences when they visit the country, starting from the first contact with those in the Immigration Department.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said tourists would have a good perception about Malaysia if they have pleasant experiences with those manning the country's entry points.
"Our efforts should actually start even before the tourists' arrival itself. By making it a hassle-free experience to obtain visa, they will already have a good notion about this country," he said at the launch of Electronic Visa (eVisa) and Visa Communication Centre (eVCOMM) today.
Also present were Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman and Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa.
The eVisa is a web-based visa application portal that offers tourists with a quick, convenient and secure way to apply for a Malaysian visa.
Najib lauded the Home Ministry's efforts to ease the process of visa application especially for foreigners of 10 chosen countries, namely China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Serbia and Montenegro.
Those from these countries will be allowed to now make their applications via online.
"The eVisa programme is a user-friendly online facility that will allow tourists, international students and expatriates to get their visas within 48 hours without having to go to the One Stop Centre or to the embassies as what had been done in the past,” he said, adding applicants could save on transport costs.
The eVisa facility, Najib said, could tap into some 100 million diaspora from the 10 chosen countries, who were spread across the globe.
He added Malaysia expected to welcome 32 million visitors with an expected revenue of more than RM118 billion to be generated this year.
"We expect three million visitors from China alone and all indicators in the past six months have shown that Malaysia is on track to achieve it.
"Visa applications from India have also increased by 91.1 per cent from 36.442 approved in March last year to 69,635 approved in April this year," he said.
With the eVisa and the Electronic Travel Registration and Information (eNTRI) programmes, the prime minister believed the improvements made by the Immigration Department could attract more visitors especially those from China and India.
Najib also announced the setup of two more eVisa regional hubs, each in Brazilia, Brazil and Moscow, Russia by the end of this year.
"The two hubs can ease the process of eVisa application and approval of applicants from the 10 countries, who are in South America, East Europe and Central Asia.
"The prime minister added the eVisa programme could elevate the country's security to greater heights as well as promote Malaysia as a safe place for everyone.
The eVisa system is linked directly with the main centralise immigration system.
All tourists applying for eVisa are vetted through a series of online realtime security checks throughout the process of visa issuance.
It can automatically detect any visa application that had been red flagged by the Immigration system.
Earlier, Najib accompanied by Zahid visited the eVCOMM centre, which served as a centralised hub to provide command, coordination, decision-making underlining the core objectives of the Immigration Department.
Immigration director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali briefed the prime minister and the deputy prime minister on the roles of eVCOMM and about eVisa.
Mustafar later told reporters that eVisa applicants could print out their visa once their applications had been approved.