Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who is on a three-day official visit to Indonesia, said he had reached an agreement with his Indonesian counterpart, President Joko Widodo, to implement a travel corridor through a Travel Corridor Arrangement (TCA) or Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) programme.
Ismail said the proposal will first see a travel corridor that will connect Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta by air, before other destinations that have shown to be low risk can be added.
He said the corridor will prioritise those who have been fully vaccinated and those categorised as travelling for official purposes, business, medical, and humanitarian grounds.
“This initiative will certainly facilitate the movement of people from both countries,” he said in a statement after a joint press conference with Jokowi, as the Indonesian president is popularly known, at Istana Bogor in Jakarta.
“When reopening borders, it is important to do so in a safe manner while balancing the need to open up and redevelop the economy, and maintaining aspects of public health security.
“The president and I hope that this initiative can be finalised and implemented in early 2022.”
Ismail said the travel corridor will also involve the joint recognition of Covid-19 vaccination certificates and PCR results.
He arrived in Jakarta yesterday to begin his inaugural overseas visit since being sworn in as Malaysia’s ninth prime minister on Aug 21.
Today’s announcement comes two days after Malaysia and Singapore announced that their fully vaccinated nationals will be able to travel between KLIA and Changi Airport through a VTL to be launched on Nov 29.
Apart from travel arrangements, Ismail is also expected to discuss bilateral cooperation in education, maritime, trade and investment during his visit to Jakarta.
Ismail said two memorandum of understandings (MoUs) were signed today, the first on “Cooperation in the Field of Education” and the second on “Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Customs Matters”.
He added that a total of five MoUs and agreements will also be signed by the private sectors of both countries, which is expected to see US$3.1 billion in investments entering Indonesia.
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