The National Recovery Council (NRC) has agreed for Malaysia’s international borders to be fully reopened from as early as March 1, 2022 without compulsory Covid-19 quarantine, said its chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

However, Covid-19 screening tests would have to be conducted in accordance with Ministry of Health requirements for both departure and arrivals, Muhyiddin said in a statement on Tuesday (Feb 8).

“The reopening of national borders must be implemented strategically and based on concurrent assessment of risks,” he added.

The NRC’s decision followed a meeting on Tuesday, which saw the council reviewing the proposal for national border reopening by Immigration Department director-general Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud.

“Malaysia is among the countries with the highest percentage of completed vaccination [against Covid-19] in the world, with 98% [of its] adult population and over 78% [of its] national population having received complete doses.

The Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH) has issued a media statement regarding the emergence of the Omicron variant – media statement as follows:

The Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH) has previously informed that the emergence of the Omicron variant will lead to an increase in daily cases of COVID-19 in the country. Starting Sunday, February 6th, 2022, Malaysia will again record several positive cases exceeding 10,000 thousand cases.

We would like to welcome Airbus Malaysia as a new member of EUROCHAM Malaysia! We are excited to work alongside your esteemed organisation, as we strive to bolster alliances within the EU-MY business ecosystem.

As a proven leader in the global aerospace sector, Airbus designs, produces, and delivers innovative solutions to create a better-connected, and a safer world. These cutting-edge products and services – which span the commercial aircraft, helicopter, defence, security, and space segments – benefit from their wide-ranging expertise and continued emphasis on innovation.

We are pleased to share that EUROCHAM Malaysia is in collaboration as a co-organiser with EuroCham Singapore for the upcoming webinar – EV Infrastructure – Challenges and Opportunities in Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam. This webinar is happening on Tuesday, 15 February 2022 at 4 PM.

With this webinar, we feature distinguished industry experts who understand and study EV adoption trends and are willing to share solutions for governments and investors to develop the infrastructure successfully as well as the opportunities EVs can provide while taking into account the various challenges that will first need to be crossed.

Representing EUROCHAM Malaysia during this webinar session will be Mr. Hans de Visser, Managing Director at BMW Group Malaysia. With over 29 years of experience in various functions at the BMW Group, Mr. Hans began his career at the premium automaker in its premium motorcycle division and has served in various Sales and Marketing roles for the BMW Group across several markets globally.

Join us on Wednesday, February 9, 2022, at 3PM (+8 GMT) for our AdvocacyTalks Webinar with Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) on the topic of Forging Industry Resilience with the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Industry Blueprint 2021-2025.

Over the past decade, Malaysia has gained popularity as a safe and trusted destination for healthcare travel due to its uniqueness, cultivated in a seamless end-to-end ecosystem involving public and private industry players that have attracted approximately 8.4 million healthcare travellers since 2011. The sudden emergence of the pandemic greatly impacted the healthcare travel industry and required the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) to rapidly pivot its strategy to recover and rebuild the industry.

With an overall aspiration to provide the best Malaysia healthcare travel experience by 2025, the Blueprint will allow MHTC to forge industry resilience as Malaysia rebounds from the pandemic safely and securely according to streamlined policy directions and more importantly, for continuity of care for global citizens in need of critical care.

Malaysia’s total trade recorded an upward trend, growing 5.5% in December 2021 as compared to the previous month, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

In a statement on Friday (Feb 4), it said export value rose by 10.4% to RM123.8 billion against November 2021, reflected by an increment in exports of machinery and transport equipment (+22.4%), animal and vegetable oils and fats (+13.2%) and miscellaneous manufactured articles (+7.8%).

"On the other hand, imports declined by 0.4% month-on-month (m-o-m) in December 2021 to RM92.9 billion, reflected by deterioration in imports of mineral fuels (-25.9%), animal and vegetable oils and fats (-20.7%), and inedible crude materials (-2.4%), while trade value soared by 63.6% m-o-m to RM31 billion," it noted.

Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the export unit value index grew 0.2% in December 2021 as compared to the preceding month, contributed by increases in the indices of animal and vegetable oils and fats (+3.4%), machinery and transport equipment (+0.8%), and chemicals (+0.8%).