PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s borders will reopen on April 1, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced today.
“With this, Malaysian citizens with valid travel documents can enter and leave the country as they did before the pandemic,” he said at a press conference.
The country’s borders have been closed since the first movement control order (MCO) in March 2020.
Stating that the announcement will give Malaysians the freedom to travel abroad and international tourists the chance to visit the country, Ismail was confident that the move will boost the country’s economy.
“We believe that our tourism sector, which has been affected by this closure, will be able to operate fully once again,” he said.
Ismail said that fully vaccinated travellers do not need to undergo quarantine upon returning to Malaysia.
Instead, they will only need to get tested for Covid-19 prior to their departure and upon arrival.
Malaysia’s air VTL programme with Cambodia and Thailand will begin on March 15, with the same programme between Malaysia and Singapore to be expanded to include the Penang-Singapore route starting March 16.
Ismail said the decision to reopen borders was made based on “science and the latest facts” about Covid-19, and that other countries have also started opening their borders.
He added that foreign travellers will no longer need to apply for the immigration department’s MyTravelPass, which will be abolished from next month.
However, they will still have to download and activate the MySejahtera application as well as complete the pre-departure form through the app’s “Traveler” function.
“The most important thing is that Malaysia is now an open destination.”