The Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) signed two memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with Canadia Bank Plc and ACLEDA Bank Plc, allowing international passengers to fill out documents, apply for visas and make payments in advance.
The agreement was signed yesterday by Charles Van, Executive Vice President of Canadia Bank and Seng Youan, Director General of the General Department of Logistics & Finance of the Ministry of Interior in the presence of Aun Bunhak, Under Secretary of State of the Ministry of Finance in Phnom Penh.
Presiding over the signing ceremony, Kirth Chantharith, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Interior said that with the permission of Sar Sokha, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, we are all here to sign an MoU on the use of electronic payment services for collecting visa fees along with the Cambodia e-Arrival system.
“This is the second MoU that the Ministry of Interior signed. A similar agreement was inked with ACLEDA Bank two days ago,” Chantharith said.
He said that the RGC has set out the Pentagonal Strategy Phase-One which focuses on enhancing the development and maintaining all the achievements of the past Rectangular Strategy aimed at improving the quality and efficiency of public services.
“The Cambodia e-Arrival is one of the major tasks for improving the quality and efficiency of public services as we all know that foreign passengers visiting the Kingdom need to fill out three or four documents manually,” Chantharith said.
If visitors didn’t get to apply for a visa in advance, they would need to get one upon landing at the airport which included the immigration permit, quarantine confirmation from the health agency and the customs form, a total of four written paperwork, he added.
“To facilitate all the processes for travellers, the Ministry has established this online payment programme so that foreign passengers can complete all four requirements through the Cambodia e-Arrival system as a whole.”
He stressed that the initiative from the Deputy Prime Minister to establish the online payment platform will pave the way for travellers and reduce time consumed by allowing foreigners to fill out documents before they arrive in the Kingdom.
“The issuance of visas to passengers through the Cambodia e-Arrival system also demands payments immediately therefore, the Ministry needs to partner banks to collect the fees.”
Chantharith emphasised that the cooperation with banks for collecting visa payments does not allow any institution or company to operate exclusively as the RGC strictly follows the rules of the free market while also needing to prevent interruptions of the services, giving passengers a variety of choices.
It may be recalled that on August 30, Sokha inspected the geographical situation and performance of officers at the Prek Chak International Border Crossing Police Station in Kampot Province, and continued to check the working procedure of officers at the Sihanoukville International Airport as well.
Two days later, he went to inspect the officers at the Phnom Penh International Airport aimed at launching the Cambodia e-Arrival system hence all passengers no longer need to spend time manually filling out the documents upon arrival at the international bate by air transport. khmertimekh
