KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has been given the green-light by Indonesia over a Reciprocal Green Lane/Travel Corridor Arrangement (RGL/TCA) travel bubble between each nation.
Tourism, Arts, and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri mentioned the travel bubble initiative is one of the ministry’s tourism and culture recovery plans formulated last July as part of the measures to revitalize the sector.
She thanked Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for securing the deal with Indonesia throughout his two-day visit to the Asean nation, which concluded on Friday.
“The ministry has held discussions with the Health Ministry; Home Ministry and Foreign Affairs Ministry to explore alternatives by creating travel bubbles with neighboring nations like Brunei; Singapore and Thailand or Asian international locations and Asia Pacific nations such as Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand which have been identified as safe by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
“Its implementation, however, is subject to bilateral discussions and considerations based on the aspects of health, immigration, data tracking, and ongoing monitoring by related agencies in both nations,” she mentioned in a statement.
Nancy mentioned Malaysia had also proposed for transparency and standardization of cross-border Standard Working Process issued by safe nations to ease traveling.
She mentioned it included considering views from the health agencies of every respective nation.
In December the last yr, the Minister informed Dewan Rakyat during her winding-up speech on the 2021 Budget at the committee stage that the ministry was exploring the possibility of having travel bubble arrangements with green zone nations in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic.
She mentioned the ministry had held discussions with several government agencies and tourism industry players’ representatives to identify mechanisms to reopen cross-border tourism activities in a safe and systematic manner
