Sarawak hoteliers call for duty-free zone to boost tourism

MIRI: The Sarawak chapter of the Malaysian Association of Hotels is calling for a duty-free zone in the state to enhance tourism in light of the proposed Visit Malaysia Year (VMY) 2020 announced in Budget 2018 last Friday.

Its honorary secretary John Teo said Miri could be a strategic location for a duty-free zone as it is near Brunei and Sabah.

“Sarawak must fight for a duty-free zone, with Senadin in Miri city as the location since the area is near the Brunei border,” he told Bernama yesterday.

Many products could be declared duty-free, including clothing, cooking ware, cars and food items, he added.

“Langkawi, perhaps, can be a good model for the management of the duty-free zone,” he said.

Senadin is a 20-minute drive from the Sungai Tujuh Custom, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) complex, and sees more than three million visitors passing the checkpoint on an annual basis.

Since Sept 1, 2015, it registered an increase of visitors due to longer opening hours, from 6am to midnight from 6am to 10pm previously.

When tabling Budget 2018, Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is also finance minister, said the country would host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, the World Congress on Information Technology and Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2020.

VMY was launched in 1990. It was subsequently held in 1994, 2007 and 2014. -FMT