Call upon the cabinet to take the proactive step to waive the visa fees in this year end peak period

The Thailand government in an attempt to arrest the declining number of tourists, notably from China, agreed on Tuesday to waive the 2,000-baht visa-on-arrival fee for tourists for 60 days to rev up one of the main engines of economic growth. From Dec 1 this year until the end of January next year, tourists visiting Thailand from 20 countries will be able to enjoy the fee waiver as ”a New Year’s gift”.

Back here in Malaysia, there has been many calls to remove our visa fee. I call upon the cabinet, which is actively seeking for ways to raise the country’s income, to take the proactive step to waive the visa fees in this year end peak period. The tourism sector is a huge contributor to our economy – 6.1 per cent of our national GDP with a value of RM82.6 billion in 2017 directly supporting 670,000 jobs. We stand to earn more from tourists spending. Let us not be penny wise, pound foolish and instead make some money before it’s too late. The visa fee waiver may be the final decider that may swing the decision in our nation’s favour for the thousands of last minute tourists from China and India.

I would also like to draw attention to the eNTRI facility, where Chinese nationals only had to fill an online application to be granted the right to enter the country.

Currently, there are three visa facilities are used, whereby the charges and the distribution of the charges are as follows:

Sticker Visa — RM175 (RM50 to the government, RM125 to the company);
eVisa — RM175 (RM50 to the government, RM125 to the company); and,
eNTRI — RM100 (100 per cent goes to the company)

Not only is the deal very lopsided, there are also security concerns as no screening is done for applicants via eNTRI. In 2017, the concessionaire raked in almost RM70 million from 695,434 applications.

Concerns were raised in June and an investigation was carried out, but we have not been updated on the progress. These concerns need to be addressed.

1. Is this concessionaire a crony company appointed by BN politicians?
2. Why hasn’t the concession contract terminated?
3. Was the contract renewed this year?
4. Is the new PH government liable if we cancel the contract?
5. Was there criminal element in the appointment of the concessionaire?