Russia proposed to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to cancel visas

Russia has proposed to five countries in the Middle East and Southeast Asia to cancel tourist visas, reported at the Eastern Economic Forum (WEF) Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov.

He emphasized that Moscow is developing the topic of transition to “visa-free travel” and is working in this direction with a number of countries.

“We proposed a complete abolition of visas to Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia. Where an increase in premium class tourists is also possible. That’s why we’re interested in this,” clarified Reshetnikov at the session “Inbound tourism: challenges and opportunities in the new reality” (quote from RIA Novosti).

In February, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reportedthat Russia intends to introduce a visa-free regime with 11 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Zambia and the Caribbean. He said that separate agreements had been outlined with six more states, including India and Indonesia, for which there would be “facilitated conditions, very simple ones.”

In August Reshetnikov toldthat Russia has sent India a proposal to launch visa-free tourist trips for groups. According to the minister, this issue is being worked out through diplomatic channels.

August 1 Ministry of Economic Development of Russia announced on the launch of a visa-free bilateral channel with China for travel of tourists in groups. Russia has received confirmation from the PRC of its readiness from this date to both receive Russian tour groups and send its own. In addition, from August 1, a visa-free travel regime for tourist groups with Iran began to operate.