KUALA LUMPUR: Singapore Foreign Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan's visit to Malaysia over the last two days opens the door for the much-awaited resumption of Malaysia-Singapore cross-border travel.

The meetings between Dr Balakrishnan and his Malaysian counterpart Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, and other leaders in Putrajaya involved in the battle against COVID-19 pandemic, helped both sides come to some understanding regarding cross-border travel.

The crucial face-to-face meeting between the two foreign ministers also resulted in several positive outcomes, particularly on the cross-border arrangements where they had jointly announced that the Reciprocal Green Lane (RGL) and the Periodic Commuting Arrangement (PCA) will be restored progressively.

RGL allows cross-border travel for essential business and official purposes, while the PCA allows Singapore and Malaysia residents who hold long-term immigration passes for business and work purposes in the other country to periodically return to their home countries for short-term home leave.

This is a big relief for Malaysians in Singapore and Singaporeans in Malaysia, and the thousands who commute daily across the Causeway whose routine have been disrupted due to the COVID-19 travel restrictions imposed by both countries to contain the pandemic. The travel restriction also impacted the economies of both nations.

As Malaysia and Singapore are currently rolling out their respective national vaccination programme, the foreign ministers also announced that both countries have agreed to work on the Reciprocal Recognition of Vaccine Certificate, a key enabler in facilitating cross-border travel in the future.

Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, after meeting Dr Balakrishnan, said Malaysia and Singapore's digital vaccination certificates were secured by blockchain technology and come with a traceability feature that tells the exact batch of the vaccine vial used for inoculation.

The blockchain technology will ensure that there will be no tampering of the digital certificates by any party.

"The interoperability between the digital certification systems used in both countries will be crucial especially when taking into account standards set by World Health Organisation (WHO), International Air Transport Association (IATA) and other countries," he said.

Khairy noted Malaysia and Singapore's commitment in becoming a working model of post-pandemic recovery.

Meanwhile, Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, who met Dr Balakrishnan today, looked forward to enhance Malaysia-Singapore ties and discuss on the mechanisms of restoring cross-border travel for business travellers between both sides.

During the press conference after the bilateral meeting on Tuesday, both Hishammuddin and Dr Balakrishnan also took the opportunity to touch on a subject matter of interest for ASEAN - the current developments in Myanmar.

They want to see Myanmar exercise restraint and reconcile to resolve the tragic situation in the country since the Feb 1 military coup.

Both foreign ministers encouraged national conversation and dialogue between all stakeholders in Myanmar and believed that there should be no external interference in the domestic affairs of Myanmar.

This was the second time both foreign ministers had met face-to-face since the outbreak early last year.

The first was in July, 2020, where they had met on the Johor Causeway to mark the agreement to reopen the Malaysia-Singapore borders in August following the borders' closure to contain the pandemic.

Dr Balakrishnan, who is on a two-day working visit to Malaysia, had also called on Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, and held meetings with Senior Ministers - International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali and Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob - and Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

-- BERNAMA