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Myanmar: Two countries one destination with Cambodia planned
The Ministry of Hotels and Tourism is implementing a two countries one destination campaign with Cambodia by planning direct flights between the two ancient cities Bagan and Siem Reap, said Daw Khin Than Win, the ministry’s deputy director general.
A tourist can get to Myanmar without a visa at the embassy if they have a Cambodian visa.
“But Myanmar hasn’t started the practice of free visas for tourists yet. It needs time to complete because it has to submit to cabinet for a bilateral agreement,” she said.
Daw Khin Than Win said that there are negotiations with the Immigration Department for visa exemption for tourists who visit both Cambodia and Myanmar as well as to facilitate immigration services in Bagan airport for direct flights between Bagan and Angkor Wat.
“It will not affect everyone if they agree to arrival on visa for those who come by charter flights, cruise ships and group tours. It has the most potential, if visa exemption is impossible. We have to negotiation with immigration on that,” she said.
As for the Immigration Department, they will not allow entry of tourists without taking a Myanmar visa because it directly concerns the country’s safety and security, U Htay Hlaing, director general of Ministry of Labor, Immigration and Population told The Myanmar Times.
“The duty of our ministry is to protect the country’s safety and security but the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism is responsible for the increase in the number of tourists. So our vision is totally different and that’s why we always negotiate for those issues,” he said.
Currently, under the Ministry of Labor, Immigration and Population, 12 types of visas have been issued through the embassy, two E-visas and 6 kinds of arrival on visa for foreign visitors.
“This visa exemption issue for two countries one destination is still under discussion between the two ministries and that would be impossible to allow,” U Htay Hlaing said.
As for the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA), they can allow international flights with aircraft capacity limitation from Siam Reap to the Bagan airport but it needs to be approved by the Immigration Department, especially for visa registration requirement, U Ye Htut Aung, deputy director general of DCA told The Myanmar Times.
“Recently we had no plan to initiate this direct flight between Siam Reap and Bagan as we were concerned that bigger aircraft would impact the ancient heritage pagodas and temples. But landing at Pakokku airport [33 km from Nyaung-U airport] would be possible for international flights in future, if immigration facilitates visa services,” he said.
Source: http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/national-news/yangon/26082-two-countries-one-destination-with-cambodia-planned.html