Indonesia is considering offering visa-free entry to nationals of 20 countries, including the United States, China, Australia, India, South Korea, Germany, Britain and France, to boost its tourism and economy, its tourism minister said on Thursday.

The government is finalising the list of countries included in the provision, according to a statement.

Minister Sandiaga Uno said the president had instructed the government to consider the visa waiver as a means of boosting the economy, tourism visits and investment.

There were more than 16 million foreign arrivals in Indonesia in pre-pandemic 2019, according to official data.

From January to October this year, Indonesia received 9.49 million foreign visitors, an increase of 124.3% from the same period in 2022.

Indonesia is the latest country in Southeast Asia to consider waiving visas for China, a major travel market, following Singapore, which on Thursday said a 30-day mutual visa exemption with China will be implemented early next year.

Thailand and recently Malaysia have also waived visas for visitors from China and India.