Taiwan considers granting visa privileges to India, Southeast Asian nations

Taiwan is considering offering visa-free entry to the nationals of the Philippines and is also exploring the possibility of extending visa privileges to Indians, Indonesians, Vietnamese, besides nationals of other Southeast Asian countries covered by the Taiwanese government’s New Southbound Policy, said a Foreign Ministry official, who wished not to be named, on 14 July.

After it launched a visa waiver program for Thailand and Brunei in August 2016, which proved to be successful, the government is intending to add more countries such as Indonesia, India and Vietnam and also other Southeast Asian countries, said the official.

The official was quoted by CAN, the state-run news agency of Taiwan, as saying that although it has, however, not been specified as to when this program could be launched, the government is planning to carry out a study after August when related government officials return from their stints at the Summer Universiade, which is scheduled to be held from 19-30 August.

According to the official, several factors need to be taken into consideration before they implement visa-free entry and other types of visa privileges.Recently, the country officially known as the Republic of China extended its visa-free program to citizens of 11 of its diplomatic allies in Latin America and in the Caribbean.

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