Joining Sri Lanka and Thailand in the list, Malaysia is another country that will grant a 30-day visa-free entry for the citizens of India and China starting from December 1. The announcement was made by the Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
Other than the existing visa exemptions for the Gulf nations and other West Asian countries, this waiver is an additional facility, according to the Prime Minister.
According to the official Bernama news agency, the Prime Minister, who is also the Finance Minister of the country has said that this visa exemption will be subject to top-level security screening.
The Prime Minister said, ‘Initial screenings will be conducted for all tourists and visitors to Malaysia. Security is a different matter. If there are criminal records or the risk of terrorism, they will not be allowed to enter.
Not just that eight ASEAN countries including- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam are already enjoying the 30-day visa-free entry for the purpose of social visits, tourism and business.
With RM 49.3 billion in tourism receipts, Malaysia is currently targeting 16.1 million international tourist arrivals. Meanwhile, India is among the top countries to contribute to most tourist arrivals in Malaysia.
According to several media reports, ‘in 2022, Malaysia welcomed a total of 324,548 Indian tourists, while in the first quarter of 2023, Malaysia received as many as 164,566 Indian tourists compared to 13,370 in the same period last year, according to data from the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board, also known as Tourism Malaysia.’
the agency under the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia, Currently, there are 158 flights with 30,032 seats offered weekly between India and Malaysia through Malaysia Airlines, Batik Air, AirAsia and IndiGo.
