Speaking after meeting his Australian counterpart, Marise Payne, he said the health ministers of both countries were also holding discussions.

“Our understanding is that the border reopening has to be done in stages. What those stages are will be announced later, as and when our health ministers are ready.

“As far as the foreign ministers are concerned, we need to travel and we want people to travel,” he said in a joint news conference with Payne.

Earlier, Saifuddin and Payne co-chaired the fourth Malaysia-Australia annual foreign ministers meeting, the first after the prime ministers of both countries launched the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership on Jan 27, 2021.

Payne noted that like Malaysia, Australia had also imposed strict controls, both domestically and at the country’s borders, in light of the pandemic.

She said Australia was gradually reopening its borders and was enthusiastic about receiving the return of international travellers, including Malaysian students.

“We know how much they value the opportunity, and we also are very welcoming of Malaysian students to Australia, so it’s not too far off.”

Both ministers said the meeting touched on areas under the framework of the partnership, such as trade and investment, education, tourism, defence, people-to-people ties, as well as post-Covid-19 cooperation.

Payne is on a three-day working visit to Malaysia until Nov 7.

She is also scheduled to meet defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein and health minister Khairy Jamaluddin.