KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will allow quarantine-free entry for fully vaccinated travellers from April 1, ending almost two years of stringent border controls introduced to contain the Covid-19 outbreak.
"Citizens with valid travel documents can enter and leave the country as they did before the pandemic," Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said on Tuesday.
"Foreigners will no longer need to apply for MyTravelPass, which will be abolished next month,'' he said. "Malaysian nationals barred from leaving the country for more than a year can fully resume international travel.''
The reopening marks the final step in the lifting of virus curbs, as Malaysia joins other Southeast Asian nations in transiting to the endemic phase of the outbreak.
A high vaccination -- 64% of adults have got booster shots -- has allowed the government to rollback restrictions that battered the tourism sector and pushed the economy into contraction for two quarters in 2021.
"This announcement will revitalise the economy, particularly tourism, which was severely affected," Ismail said.
Malaysia recently allowed fully inoculated travellers from Thailand and Cambodia to skip quarantine from March 15. This will add to the existing vaccinated travel lane pact with Singapore. A similar one with Indonesia is still under planning.
"For countries that still shut their borders, citizens still benefit from VTLs that were agreed between Malaysia and those countries," Ismail said.
Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand are among Southeast Asian countries that have waived quarantine, while Indonesia is bringing forward plans to allow quarantine-free entry for foreigners traveljing to Bali. bloomberg