Malaysia ready if Singapore agrees VTL quota increase - Wee

He said the Malaysian government, through the Ministry of Transport (MOT) and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), understood the needs of travellers, especially during festive seasons.

However, he added that for now, Malaysia accepted the decision set by Singapore, including a 50 per cent reduction of the VTL quota after it was made following consultation with the relevant authorities, especially the Ministries of Health of both countries.

"All decisions regarding VTL are submitted to the health agencies to determine whether the current capacity needs to be increased or vice versa.

"There are thousands of requests and applications for VTL, we will try, but as a government, we will see the need... not that we don't want to fight (for it) but if there is a need then we will increase," he said in a press conference after the launch of the MIROS (Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research) Road Safety programme, at Dewan Muafakat Ayer Hitam, near here, today.

It was also attended by MIROS director-general (DG), Datuk Dr Khairil Anwar Abu Kassim, and Road Transport Department DG, Datuk Zailani Hashim.

He also reminded travellers to apply for permits so that they can use this VTL initiative.

Yesterday (Jan 21), both Malaysia and Singapore allowed the resumption of ticket sales for land and air VTL, but with a 50 per cent reduction from what it was before.

Meanwhile, in JELI, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Economy), Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, said the reopening of the international border provides relief to the economic sector, as it was made ahead of the Chinese New Year celebration.

"We welcome the decision to reopen VTL Malaysia and Singapore, which was suspended a month ago. This reopening will not only be able to improve the country's economic sector, but also provide relief to the Chinese community who have family ties in both countries.

"We can see small and medium enterprise (SME) traders can breathe again when we gradually open the country's borders after implementing the full movement control order," he said at a press conference after attending the Yayasan Pelajaran Mara's CSR programme at the Dato' Pa Bukit Bunga Service Centre here today.