Malaysia, Singapore to launch Vaccinated Travel Lane on Nov 29

Dato Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob (left) and Lee Hsien Loong.

KUCHING, Nov 8: Malaysia and Singapore will launch a Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) between Changi Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Nov 29.

Prime Minister Dato Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, in a joint statement today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said fully vaccinated travellers will be able to travel between Malaysia and Singapore and be subjected to Covid-19 tests in lieu of serving quarantine or stay-home notice.

After speaking to each other on the phone earlier today, both recognised that Covid-19 has disrupted travel between the two countries and separated families for many months.

Given the significant progress that both countries have made in vaccinating their respective populations and managing the Covid-19 pandemic, they agreed that it is timely to progressively resume cross-border travel in a safe manner.

“The VTL is another important milestone in the longstanding Malaysia-Singapore cooperation. This will allow travel as our two countries gradually reopen our borders responsibly by balancing the need to recover our economies while ensuring the safety and health of our people from Covid-19.

“I look forward to the effective implementation of this travel scheme, adding to those we already developed previously to facilitate movements of people and goods between Malaysia and Singapore,” Ismail said.

Meanwhile, Lee said, “Singapore and Malaysia have been enjoying deep, warm, and multi-faceted relations. I am very happy that both our countries are finally able to restart cross-border travel through the VTL. This will help revive our economies, restore our people-to-people ties, and strengthen our bilateral relationship.”

The prime ministers also noted the progress for ongoing detailed discussions on a similar travel scheme to reopen travel across the Causeway and the Second Link, taking into account the public health situation in Johor and Singapore. — DayakDaily