KUCHING – The proposed Malaysia-Brunei Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) is capable of reviving Sarawak’s tourism sector to how it was before the Covid-19 pandemic, said state Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
Karim said that as it shares borders with Brunei, Sarawak will definitely benefit from the reopening of the borders.
“We hope the effort can be implemented soon. The VTL will bring more Bruneian travellers to Miri. Even before Covid-19 hit, most visitors to Sarawak were from Brunei.
“If the borders are opened, it will surely revive Sarawak’s tourism sector to how it was before Covid-19,” he told reporters when met at the state assembly building here today.
Karim said Sarawak also hoped that the VTL could also be implemented with Singapore and Indonesia for the benefit of the tourism industry.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said Malaysia and Brunei have agreed in principle to implement the air and land VTL initiative for cross-border movement between the two countries.
He said Malaysia and Brunei had also agreed to recognise the use of the MySejahtera and BruHealth apps in both countries to facilitate system integration and its use by the people of both countries. – Bernama, February 16, 2022