PUTRAJAYA:The agreement reached between Malaysia and Indonesia on the Reciprocal Green Lane/TravelCorridor Arrangement (RGL / TCA) is expected to revitalise the country's tourism and culture industry, said Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.

In thanking Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for his success in securing the deal with Indonesia, she said, the initiative was one of the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry's (MOTAC) recovery plans which was formulated since July last year.

"Alhamdulillah, this is good news and much awaited by MOTAC, she said in a statement today.

Yesterday, Muhyiddin held a meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, and among the issues raised during the four-eye meeting were investment and trade, implementation of RGL, palm oil discrimination, and cooperation in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic and current political unrest in Myanmar.

Nancy said prior to that, MOTAC had held discussions with the Health Ministry, Home Ministry and the Foreign Ministry to explore opportunities for the creation of travel bubble arrangements with neighbouring countries during the COVID-19 situation.

She said several countries had been identified for the purpose, including Brunei, Singapore and Thailand, as well as the Asia-Pacific countries such as Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand as these places were identified as safe by the World Health Organisation

"However, its implementation is subject to bilateral discussions and considerations on health, immigration, data tracking, and ongoing monitoring by the relevant agencies in both countries," she said in a statement today.

--- BERNAMA