Indonesia has insisted its free visa policy will remain in place despite reports of a growing number of tourists overstaying.
Law and human rights minister Yasonna Laoly said the free-visa policy is an essential part of Indonesia’s tourism strategy.
"What’s important with regard to the free-visa policy is monitoring. If there are 9 million foreign tourists entering Indonesia, [we should ensure] that the same number of people are leaving," Yasonna said.
The country now offers visa-free entry to nationals of 174 countries.
The law and human rights ministry said it is developing an app to keep tabs on the movements of foreign visitors which it hopes will curb overstaying and find illegal foreign workers.
It comes after rumours circulated in the media of up to 10 million Chinese nationals working illegally in the country.
This has been denied by the government.
The app will track movements via a barcode placed in the passport on arrival and will be scanned every time a tourist buys transport tickets within and when leaving the country.
"We have a list of overstayers, so we can just look at our data. [With the app] it will be easier for us to track their movements," Yasonna said.
