Business
South Africa to lure Indian tourists by faster visa process: Minister
By
Rohit VaidNew Delhi, July 9
South Africa is keen to
employ latest information technology (IT) and other facilities to hasten
the visa issuance process to attract more Indian tourists and
businesses to the country, a visiting minister has said.
South
African Minister of Home Affairs M. Gigaba said his country is keen and
ready to cater to more Indian tourists and businesses.
"India is a
fast growing economy and South Africa is ready to partner with it. We
are ready to serve more Indian businesses and welcome more Indian
tourists to South Africa," the minister told IANS at the South African
High Commission here.
"South Africa has the best of
infrastructure, best of facilities for business in the whole of Africa.
It can cater to Indian businesses which are looking at entering the
African continent. The country also has abundant natural resources."
According
to the minister, as a member of the BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India,
China and South Africa), South Africa has provided to Indian
businessmen the facility to obtain a 10-year multiple entry visa.
"We
have provided the 10-year multiple entry business visas. We are also
looking at employing latest IT technologies that can ease the visa
facilitation process and allow faster processing of visas for tourists
and businessmen," the minister explained.
The South African
minister is in India to meet his counterpart, Rajnath Singh, to discuss
bilateral issues and the new visa policy between the two countries.
Currently,
India is the third largest market in Asia, and seventh globally, for
South Africa. The changes in the new visa policy are expected to have a
major effect on tourism and on business growth in both the countries.
"We
expect the number of Indian visitors to South Africa to grow. But even
if it dips in the first year of the new regulations on visa norms being
implemented, it won't be a major concern. People take time to adjust to
the new policy and norms," the minister said.
"The reason behind
the new visa regulations is to have a secure system in which no one is
allowed to abuse the South African visa and immigration policies. This
is to enhance safety, stop trafficking, and promote trust in travellers
when they come to South Africa," he said.
The minister also
pointed out the various security threats emanating out of a loose visa
system, like travel on false documents, child trafficking and promotion
of illegal trades.
The South African government has come under
criticism over its new immigration regulations, which came into effect
from October 1, 2014.
The new rules require tourists to appear "in person" during the visa application process in order to obtain a biometric visa.
There
is also the requirement for all children under the age of 18,
travelling to and from South Africa, to carry the copy of an unabridged
birth certificate in addition to their passport and visa. This
regulation came into force from June 1, 2015.
Observers say the
problem with the new system arose due to the lack of infrastructure to
process the new set of data in visa applications.
However, the
minister claims that the new infrastructure has been created especially
in India, where the number of visa facilitation centres has grown from
two to 11, and that more can be added if and when required.
"We
will provide more facilities, more staff, and use new technologies to
process the applications faster as and when the demand requires. I will
be visiting the facilitation centres here in India and see them
function," the minister said.
In 2013, 128,179 Indian tourists visited South Africa, while the number dropped to 117,511 in 2014.
(Rohit Vaid can be contacted at [email protected])