Malaysia should not be left behind, says Muhyiddin on reopening borders

The National Recovery Council (MPN) today said that the country’s borders should be reopened as quickly as possible to prevent negative effects on the economy.

MPN chairman Muhyiddin Yassin said Malaysia should look to Australia which this week reopened its borders to vaccinated travellers.

He said the decision was made despite Australia’s vaccination rate being far behind that of Malaysia.

“The question of Omicron, of Covid, the whole world is experiencing these problems,” he said at a press conference.

“Although our case numbers have been going up, our hospitals are still able to handle the severe infections. If these can be managed, what is the issue?”

He added that there was no reason for Malaysia to be left behind in reopening its borders to international travellers.

The MPN previously suggested that Malaysia’s borders be reopened by March 1. Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin however said that at least two weeks would be needed to finalise the guidelines for border reopening.

Muhyiddin today said that the guidelines should be comprehensive so that no issues regarding matters such as quarantine and testing arise.

“In Langkawi, every day they must test for Covid. If I were a foreign tourist I wouldn’t want to go there,” he said.

“So I hope that there will be an announcement that takes into consideration all aspects.”

He said the tourism sector which depended on foreign arrivals contributed some RM80 billion every year.

While Malaysia’s economy was doing better, he added, it was still below pre-pandemic levels.