The government on Tuesday announced an extension of visa-free treatment for citizens of the Philippines, Thailand, Brunei and Russia for another year after seeing significant growth in tourist numbers from these nations thanks to the program.
The visa-free trial program for the four nations was set to expire on July 31, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release.
Following a cross-ministerial meeting on May 24 attended by representatives of government units in charge of national security, the police, the investigation bureau, immigration, tourism and the economy, an agreement was reached to extend the program for another year, the statement said.
Government data show that the visa-free program, which allows foreign nationals from those countries to stay in Taiwan for 14 days, has boosted visitor arrivals.
Tourism Bureau statistics showed that nationals from 18 New Southbound Policy partner countries, most of whom are ASEAN members, including the Philippines, Thailand and Brunei, made a total of 2.6 million visits to Taiwan last year, up 13.61 percent from 2.29 million a year ago.
Meanwhile, since Russian passport holders were first granted visa-free entry in September last year, there has been a 65 percent increase from a year earlier in the number of Russian travelers to Taiwan, ministry data showed.
The government will conduct another review to see if the visa-free privileges should be extended after July 31 next year, the ministry said.
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