Good news for those who have been waiting eagerly to travel.

The National Recovery Council yesterday proposed that the country’s borders be reopened as early as March 1, without the need for mandatory quarantine.

NRC chairman, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin however, said, travelers will need to undergo a Covid-19 test before their departure and upon arrival in Malaysia.

He said the reopening of international borders will be implemented in a planned manner and based on risk assessments.

“We hope that by reopening our borders, it will help the country’s recovery process and encourage more investors and international tourists to our country and eventually revive the tourism industry and the economy,” he said.

He also said the reopening of borders would be for all countries.

If the proposal by the NRC was accepted by the government, Muhyiddin said more pre-emptive Covid-19 measures and standard operating procedures (SOP) such as pre-departure tests and others would be announced by the Health Ministry.

On Nov 11, Muhyiddin told a press conference that Malaysia’s borders should be opened to international visitors by Jan 1 this year.

The reopening, however, had been pushed back indefinitely following the spike in infections involving the Omicron variant.

Malaysian borders have remained largely closed since March 2020, when the first national lockdown was imposed.