KUCHING: Sarawak welcomes the National Recovery Council's (NRC) proposal for the full reopening of the country's borders as early as March 1, without the need for mandatory quarantine.
The state Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Hamzah said such a proposal would essentially hasten the country's National Recovery Plan (NRP) and boost Sarawak's Post Covid-19 Development Strategy 2030 (PCDS2030).
He said the suggestions and recommendations augured well for the speedy recovery of Malaysia's various economic sectors which were badly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic especially the tourism and hospitality industry.
"Sarawak was not spared and it had lost billions from revenue streams from the tourism and hospitality industry which in the past years had contributed to the local economy and the livelihood of those working in the downstream industry," he said.
"What has been mentioned and suggested by NRC's chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin were welcomed by industry players all over because the positive impacts from the reopening of our borders will boost our economic recovery efforts.
"Our people will also gain the benefits simply because there will be job creation when the tourism and hospitality sector is on the rebound."
Karim said Sarawak's medical tourism industry was also set to benefit from the reopening of our borders because previously, the promising revenue stream from such a sector had encouraged the establishments of private medical institutions and hospitals in Kuching, Sibu, Miri and Bintulu.
It is interesting to note that the Association of Private Hospital Malaysia (APHM) had recently mentioned that medical tourism in our country had contributed RM1.7 billion to the economy in 2019 before the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
"To facilitate the reopening of our borders, we must educate and instil awareness among potential visitors on the need to strictly adhere to all standard operating procedures (SOP) set by the Ministry of Health (MoH) and Sarawak's State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) before any entry application is accepted," he said.
"There must be concerted efforts by the industry players concerned to ensure only fully vaccinated tourists and visitors with booster dose where the risks of Covid-19 infections are mitigated and avoided."
