Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has announced that this country will grant visa-free entry to citizens of India and China for stays of up to 30 days.
The visa-free entry to the people of India and China will start on December 1, Ibrahim said, as per Reuters report.
Anwar made the announcement late on Sunday during a speech at his People's Justice Party congress and did not say for how long the visa exemption would be applicable, the report said.
China and India are Malaysia's fourth and fifth-largest source markets respectively.
According to government data, Malaysia recorded 9.16 million tourist arrivals between January and June this year, with 498,540 from China and 283,885 from India, it said.
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“That compared to 1.5 million arrivals from China and 354,486 from India in the same period of 2019, prior to the pandemic,” it mentioned.
The move follows similar measures implemented by neighbouring Thailand to boost its vital tourism sector and stimulate its sluggish economy, with Chinese and Indian nationals among those exempted this year, it said.
Currently, Chinese and Indian nationals must apply for visas to enter Malaysia, it added.
