National borders set for reopening

MPN proposes govt allow foreign visitors into country latest by Jan 1, 2022 to help spur economic recovery

They (commi ee) will choose the countries that have managed to control the transmission of Covid-19 and have high vaccination rates...only visitors from those countries will be allowed to enter our country.

Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin

PUTRAJAYA: The National Recovery Council (MPN) yesterday proposed for the country’s borders to be reopened to foreign visitors on Jan 1 next year at the latest, in a bid to expedite the economic recovery of the country especially the tourism sector.

MPN chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the Special Commi ee on Pandemic Management chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob would identify the countries, especially those with high rates of complete vaccination against Covid-19, to be allowed entry to Malaysia.

“They (commi ee) will choose the countries that have managed to control the transmission of Covid-19 and have high vaccination rates...only visitors from those countries will be allowed to enter our country,” he said a er chairing the fi h meeting of MPN here yesterday.

He said the decision to open the borders was also prompted by the excellent performance of the national immunisation programme, which has seen 95 per cent of the adult population and almost 67.7 per cent of the adolescent population fully vaccinated so far.

Muhyiddin said the country’s tourism sector had seen a relatively slow recovery due to the lack of international tourist arrivals and the fact that most of the industry players needed time and resources to resume their businesses.

“Our tourism sector will suffer losses of almost RM90 billion if the borders were to remain closed. That is how much revenue the country can generate from the tourism industry as a result of foreign visitors coming in,” he said. He said other countries like Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States, despite still struggling with Covid-19, had already allowed entry to travellers from Malaysia as most of their people were fully vaccinated.

“So, if we compare ourselves with those countries, our vaccination rate is among the highest in the world, and we should also benefit from that by allowing foreign tourists to come to our country.

“At the same time, we also have to be vigilant and continue to comply with the standard operating procedures,” he said.

Meanwhile, Muhyiddin said Malaysia’s decision to forge cooperation with Indonesia in the form of a travel corridor as announced by Ismail Sabri on Wednesday, was indeed a good and forward-looking decision.

He said the leaders of the two countries must have taken into consideration all the current developments, including efforts to control the transmission of Covid-19 in both countries.