KLIA’s BTC to facilitate foreign business travellers

A Business Travellers’ Centre (BTC) has been set up at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to facilitate the entry of foreign business travellers into Malaysia, said Senior International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali.

He said the BTC was one of the main components under the government’s One Stop Centre (OSC) initiative to ease the movement of business travellers by expediting their entry into the country for business purposes.

BTC provides a seamless support system for short-term business travellers by providing fasttrack services, such as the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) swab test, where the results could be obtained within three hours.

“After being declared healthy, business travellers can proceed to the Immigration lane and the government will appoint a liaison officer for those with a specific business itinerary,” he told reporters after launching BTC at KLIA here yesterday.

Short-term business travellers are business travellers who do not hold any dedicated entry passes and intend to stay in the country for 14 days or less, subject to the approval of the OSC committee and adherence to a strict set of standard operating procedures (SOP).

Azmin said to date, OSC had approved 93 applications from investing companies for shortterm business travellers with total investments valued at RM15 billion.

He pointed out that BTC played a vital role in ensuring that Malaysia remained an attractive investment destination for foreign business.

He said BTC had been modelled on lessons and practices in Singapore, South Korea and the European Union.

The senior minister said the launch of the BTC marked a major milestone in the government’s mission to revive the economy and pave the way for the economic rebound this year.

“We know the pandemic is ongoing, but we are now better at managing risks and have better knowledge in managing the delicate balance between health and economy.”