Govt to Ease Entry Permit for Foreign Yachts

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The Tourism Ministry will ease the entry permits for foreign yachts to Indonesia. The plan will be discussed with Indroyono Soesilo, the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs, on Wednesday, November 5, 2014.

“The entry procedure for yachts to Indonesia is still complicated,” said Tourism Ministry spokesman Vincentius Jemadu.

He said the potential of tourists entering Indonesia by yacht is huge, but the difficulty to obtain Clearance and Approval for Indonesian Territory (CAIT) limits the entrance of foreign yachts to Indonesia to 2,000 units per year.

One of the causes of the difficult permit is the view that yacht is a luxury, not regular transportation. Because of that, the meeting will also discuss the plan to impose visa exemption to Indonesia for foreign tourists.

Presently, Indonesia only exempts visa for 15 countries, while Thailand has exempted visa for 56 countries and Malaysia 100 countries. “We are lagging far behind,” said Vincent.

Previously, the Yudhoyono administration had issued Presidential Decree No. 79/2011 about visits of foreign tourist ships to Indonesia. The regulation simplifies the previous regulations on yacht traffic, which are Cruise Law, Marine Law and Tourism Law.

However, the decree is not effective as eased procedures to obtain CAIT only affect yachts entering through one of the 18 seaports, including Sunda Kelapa (Jakarta), Sabang (Aceh), Teluk Bayur (Sumatera Barat), Nongsa Point Marina (Batam), Benoa (Bali), Nunukan (Kalimantan Timur), and Ambon (Maluku).

KHAIRUL ANAM