Hopefully, the mutual acknowledgment of vaccination certificates will contribute to improving the interest of European tourists to visit Indonesia in the next holiday season.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The European Union (EU) has endorsed the use of Indonesia’s PeduliLindungi mobile application for digital contact tracing in its territories starting Wednesday (May 11, 2022).

The endorsement was laid down in the implementation decision on the equal acknowledgment for vaccination certificates issued by the Indonesian government, the Indonesian Embassy in Brussels said in a written statement received in Jakarta on Thursday.

With the equal acknowledgment, QR codes on the PeduliLindungi app can now be read in the 27 EU member states. Thus, Indonesian citizens wishing to visit EU countries no longer need to register their QR codes separately.

Given the mutual acknowledgment, QR codes in the EU system can also be read in Indonesia. Thus, EU citizens traveling to Indonesia no longer need to download the PeduliLindungi app, the embassy said.

The endorsement reflects the EU's acknowledgment of the effectiveness of the Indonesian vaccination certification system, it added.

As part of the interoperability effort, the Foreign Ministry and the Health Ministry engaged in a long process with the EU Committee for COVID-19 Digital Certificates, overseeing technical equalization and legality aspects.

Indonesian Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg, and the EU, Andri Hadi, said the mutual acknowledgment of vaccination certificates is a manifestation of the strong cooperation between the EU and Indonesia and demonstrates the importance of Indonesia to the EU.

"Hopefully, the mutual acknowledgment of vaccination certificates will contribute to improving the interest of European tourists to visit Indonesia in the next holiday season," he said.

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At present, most European countries have relaxed public activity restrictions in stages. Still, the vaccination certificate system remains vital for supporting the mobility of people in the EU.

EU Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, said Indonesia has been incorporated in the EU COVID Digital Certificate System connecting 27 EU member states and 40 other countries.

"This is an important momentum ahead of the next summer holidays,” he said.

Indonesia has been on the EU white list since November 2021, meaning that Indonesian citizens can travel to the EU.

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Translator: Yuni Arisandy S, Suharto
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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