By JOHARDY IBRAHIM
editor@dagangnews.com
KUALA LUMPUR 10 Nov – International travellers from 11 high-risk countries, including Romania and Ukraine, will not be allowed to enter Malaysia as the country reopen its border on Nov 15, said Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.
Other countries that have been identified so far were Serbia, Georgia, Solvakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Suriname, Martinique, Guyana and St Kitts and Nevis, she said.
“This is our cautious measure to contain (the spread of COVID-19). (What country to be listed) it depends on the number of cases and how the country handle their cases.
“This (list) may not be exhausted fully yet, we might be receiving more later,” she said during the Reviving Malaysia’s Tourism Industry discussion at virtual Invest Malaysia 2021 Series 2 on Tuesday.
Nancy said the list would be finalised soon.
To recap, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob had previously announced that foreign tourists will be allowed entry into Langkawi under an international tourism travel bubble pilot project beginning Nov 15.
Nancy said foreign tourists, regardless where they are coming from, are required to furnish the RT-PCR test 72 hours prior to their departure and undergo a 14-day quarantine period.
She said quarantine-exemption is given to foreign tourists whose fly directly into Langkawi, however, they must have a fresh swab test on their fifth-day of visit.
On Malaysia-Singapore special vaccinated lane, Nancy said Malaysia is looking forward to strengthen its regional cooperation with other ASEAN countries especially the green neighboring nations such as Cambodia, Thailand, Brunei, and Vietnam.
“We want to make sure that we are not leaving everyone behind, but of course we have to be realistic and practical about the countries we are going to open (our border to),” she said.
The tourism industry’s contribution to Malaysia economy has reduced substantially from RM102 billion or 6.7 per cent to the gross domestic product in 2019, to a mere RM29 billion (2.0 per cent of GDP) in 2020 due to COVID-19. – DagangNews.com
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