1. Malaysia to offer visa-free entry for Chinese and Indian citizens from December 1.
2. The exemption allows stays of up to 30 days.
3. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim made the announcement during a speech at the People’s Justice Party congress.
Malaysia, Nov 27: Malaysia is set to implement visa-free entry for citizens of China and India, allowing stays of up to 30 days, starting from December 1, as announced by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim during a speech at the People’s Justice Party congress. The duration of the visa exemption was not specified.
China and India rank as Malaysia’s fourth and fifth-largest source markets, respectively. Government data reveals that between January and June this year, Malaysia welcomed 9.16 million tourist arrivals.
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Among these, 498,540 were from China, and 283,885 were from India. Comparatively, during the same period in 2019, prior to the pandemic, there were 1.5 million arrivals from China and 354,486 from India.
This move follows similar measures taken by neighboring Thailand to stimulate its vital tourism sector and boost its sluggish economy. Both China and India are among the nationalities exempted from visa requirements in Thailand this year.
Presently, Chinese and Indian nationals are required to apply for visas to enter Malaysia. The decision to grant visa-free entry is anticipated to encourage tourism and enhance economic activity between Malaysia and these two significant source markets.
