Malaysia likely to remain closed to tourists into 2021: minister - Nikkei Asian Review

Malaysia likely to remain closed to tourists into 2021: minister - Nikkei Asian Review


Malaysia likely to remain closed to tourists into 2021: minister - Nikkei Asian Review

Posted: 25 Aug 2020 10:56 PM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR -- Wary of recurring coronavirus waves, Malaysia may keep its borders closed to international tourists until the second quarter of next year, the minister responsible for the travel sector said in a recent interview.

Nancy Shukri, the minister of tourism, arts and culture, said the government is now re-drafting a "green" list of countries deemed safe from the virus, as a first step.

"We initially had a list of countries to be allowed in, but then we saw the second and third waves of coronavirus in some of these countries," she told the Nikkei Asian Review. "So we have to restrategize our plan."

Nancy said the reopening of Malaysia's border with Singapore for essential travel, which began Aug. 17, was a positive step. At the same time, she suggested the restrictions on crossings show the Malaysian government remains cautious and will do whatever it takes to protect the public from the deadly virus.

"Even if we open our borders now, some countries are not prepared to do so, thus travel cannot happen," she said, adding that the ministry is also in discussions with foreign missions in the country.

In a news conference on Tuesday, the director-general of Malaysia's health ministry, Noor Hisham Abdullah, called not for a further reopening of the borders but a renewed clampdown. He said the country should not be allowing inbound or outbound travel for the medium term, to safeguard the interests of all Malaysians.

Noor said the concern stems from infection spikes in "countries that once upon a time were the gold standard, like Korea."

"If they are having challenges, we need to prepare for the worst and hope for the best," he said. "So we need not ease our borders, but tighten them further."

Malaysia is not the only Southeast Asian destination rethinking reopenings. On Monday, Indonesia's popular island of Bali shelved plans to welcome foreign tourists starting on Sept. 11, as the country is still battling high daily COVID-19 numbers.

But the current situation is far from what Kuala Lumpur had in mind for 2020.

The government had declared this the year of "Visit Malaysia." It pumped millions of ringgit into promotional efforts to raise the country's profile as a tourism hot spot.

A woman feeds pigeons at Malaysia's Batu Caves, normally a popular tourist spot, during the coronavirus pandemic.   © Reuters

Nancy said around 40 million ringgit ($9.6 million) was spent on the Visit Malaysia Year 2020 campaign before it was suspended and subsequently called off. The government had been banking on 30 million international tourists this year, translating into 100 billion ringgit in receipts -- up from 26.1 million visitors and 86.1 billion ringgit in 2019.

Instead, Malaysia estimates 45 billion ringgit worth of tourist spending was lost from January to June 2020.

For those first six months of the year, Malaysia recorded 4.3 million international tourist arrivals -- a 68% drop from the 13.4 million registered in the same period last year. Likewise, inbound tourist receipts fell 71% to 12.7 billion ringgit, versus 44.1 billion ringgit in 2019. Most of these receipts were generated in the first two months of the year.

For the full year, Malaysia could be looking at a more than 75% reduction in international visitors and expenditures, coupled with a nearly 30% drop in domestic trips and spending.

Nancy, who took over the tourism ministry in March, admitted that she was startled during her initial days on the job. Her appointment came only a week before Malaysia imposed a nationwide three-month lockdown to contain COVID-19.

"As a people-oriented industry, tourism is one of the hardest-hit economic sectors and expected to be the last to recover," she said.

"Imagine being named as a minister in charge of tourism and days after, the entire country goes under movement control."

During the lockdown, at least 36 hotels closed down for good. Nancy said occupancy rates in hotels nationwide have been improving since June, especially after Malaysia loosened the movement restrictions to allow cross-state travel.

To help keep small and midsize tourism businesses afloat, the government has allocated $234 million to finance plans that would make them more viable and competitive under the "new normal."

The government has also introduced tourism and service tax exemptions for hotels and other accommodations until June 2021. Travel agencies, hotel operators, airlines and other tourism industry players can defer tax installment payments until the end of the year as well.

Amid souring US ties, China courts Europe with foreign ministers tour - Business Standard

Posted: 25 Aug 2020 07:08 PM PDT

In Rome for a meeting with his counterpart Luigi Di Maio, Wang told reporters that China's relations with the European Union are on a positive trend

Topics
US China trade war | China | European Union

is looking to turn on the charm in Europe to push back against a U.S. campaign for allies to shun cooperation with

Foreign Minister kicked off a week-long Europe tour Tuesday, with planned stops in Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, France and Germany. The trip comes on the heels of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's two visits to Europe in as many months, in which he warned that poses a greater threat than Russia.

In Rome for a meeting with his counterpart Luigi Di Maio, Wang told reporters that China's relations with the are on a positive trend. "But our relations are suffering from provocations and also damage from external forces, so we must concentrate on our common interests," Wang said without identifying those forces.

"I want to emphasise that has never wanted to wage a cold war," Wang said. "We do not let other countries do so to push their own private interests, damaging the interests of other nations."

ALSO READ: US, Chinese envoys discuss economic coordination in trade meeting


For China, the European trip is part of a broader push to stabilise key relationships around the world, particularly as the U.S. seeks to keep Huawei Technologies Co. out of networks, rewire global supply chains and prevent Chinese apps like and from accessing American data. China has recently toned down its rhetoric against the U.S., and both sides this week reaffirmed their commitment to the phase-one trade deal.

In addition to Wang Yi's visit to Europe, his boss also recently made trips to Singapore and South Korea. Yang Jiechi, a Politburo member who oversees China's foreign affairs, also pushed for a trilateral summit this year between China, South Korea and Japan, another U.S. ally.

"What China is doing is to keep relations with other countries normal and present itself in a more objective way," said Gao Zhikai, a former Chinese diplomat and translator for late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping. "To the extent there are distortions created by the U.S., China has the right to bring the situation back to normal."

Wang said in Rome that he wants to reinforce cooperation with European countries in battling the pandemic, as well as "safeguard multilaterism" and sees China's Belt & Road global infrastructure initiative as the driving force for boosting economic ties with Italy. PipeChina and Italy's Snam SpA agreed on a partnership project in the Chinese gas market on the day of Wang's visit, Foreign Minister Di Maio said.

ALSO READ: China launches four advanced naval warships for Pakistan as ties deepen


Strategic Relations

Europe's strategic significance to has increased as relations with the U.S. deteriorate and Pompeo seeks to build an anti-China bloc of countries, according to a researcher at the government-affiliated Chinese Academy of Social Sciences who asked not to be identified due to rules for speaking with the media. While the virtual China-EU summit in June didn't go well, sees ties warming as Europe looks to revive its economy in the wake of the pandemic, the researcher said.

Earlier this month, Pompeo gave a speech before the Czech Senate in which he said the "tide has turned" against China in the U.S. and is starting to in Europe.

"China's world dominance is not inevitable," he said, adding that the U.S. ejected "Chinese intellectual property thieves" and sanctioned "human rights abusers in the Chinese government."

China has sought to blame Pompeo for worsening ties with the U.S. while appealing to a broader set of policy makers. Gao, the former Chinese diplomat, likened him to a "hired gun."

On Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian hailed China's relations with France, the next stop on Wang's tour through Europe. He mentioned that President has held four phone calls this year with his counterpart, Emmanuel Macron.

"China and France are both major countries in the Security Council and also with a tradition of independence," Zhao said. "We have to continue following the consensus of our two heads of states."

First Published: Wed, August 26 2020. 07:38 IST

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