PUTRAJAYA: Travellers from China and India can enjoy 30-day visa-free travel to Malaysia starting Dec 1, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
In his winding up speech at the PKR National Congress, he said this was to increase tourism potential from those countries into the country.
"We already have the visa-free facility to gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, as well as West Asian countries Turkiye and Jordan "As we are we are celebrating 50 years of diplomatic relations with China, we are giving a 30-day travel visa-free exemption for travellers from China and India for 30 days, starting Dec 1.
"This exemption is subject to security screening which will be done for all visitors into the country.
"Those with criminal records or pose risk of violence will not be allowed to enter," he said. Details of this facility, he added, would be announced by Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail soon.
He said the highest number of tourists into Malaysia in the Asean region were from Singapore and Indonesia, but the highest outside of this region was from China. "The tourism potential from China is huge, just like how currently many South Koreans are travelling to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, now."
Anwar, who is also PKR president, said China had recently allowed visa-free travel for Malaysians entering the country for 15 days.