Malaysia in talks with Brunei to open Vaccinated Travel Lane
Malaysia’s envoy to Brunei said both countries are willing to reopen borders by establishing a Vaccinated Travel Lanes (VTL) system which allows travellers with minimum restrictions on quarantine or none at all. Although nothing is set in stone and discussions between the two Southeast Asian countries is ongoing.
The High Commissioner, Dato’ Raja Reza Raja Zaib Shah, on Wednesday told his tourism fellows at Tourism Malaysia’s high tea networking event that he could not reveal any details now since discussions are still underway, but Malaysia can start with the air travel bubble by not completely opening its borders to Brunei.
“We’re hoping for progress, but we can’t rush because of Omicron.”
The envoy also added that Brunei could be the next model after Singapore’s similar travel arrangements, despite the Malaysia-Singapore VTL having been halted due to the spike in Omicron.
Brunei’s arrivals in Malaysia saw a dramatic decline of 99.7% in the first six months of 2021, compared to the same period last year.
Malaysia is also reportedly discussing with Indonesia and Thailand additional VTL schemes.
According to the reports, bilateral trade reached RM6.4 billion (US $2.07 billion) from January to October 2021, up from RM3.9 billion (US $1.26 billion) the previous year.
SOURCE: The Scoop
