DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke has called on the party's leaders and elected representatives to do more to promote Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's "unprecedented" diplomatic achievements.
This comes amid criticisms of Anwar's frequency of overseas trips during his first year in office.
"I hope our grassroots leaders, state assemblypersons, MPs and city councillors, whether they are attending association or temple events, will repeatedly emphasise this point because it represents the success of Malaysia's foreign policy," Loke said at the Johor DAP convention today.
Among the achievements, he said, was China's approval for Malaysian travellers to enter the country without a visa.
Malaysia was among six countries to be given visa-free entry by Beijing in November, with the others being Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands.
The visa-free entry will be up for trial from Dec 1 to the end of Nov next year, and is valid for 15 days for business, tourism, visiting relatives and friends, as well as for transit.
Malaysia, in turn, is granting tourists from China and India 30-day visa-free entry as part of the celebration of the 50-year strategic partnership between Malaysia and China next year.
In his speech, Loke acknowledged that Anwar has one of the highest frequencies for a prime minister to conduct overseas trips.
However, he said such trips tend to be short and are not detrimental to the governing of Malaysia.
"He went to China for just one day, or 24 hours, and then he came back. However, he travelled many times, more than 10 times in just 12 months, visiting possibly over 20 countries.
“Each time Anwar goes abroad, he might spend only one day, even when he goes to the United States, it's three or four days before he returns."
"Therefore, his frequent overseas trips don’t mean he does not allocate time for domestic affairs," the transport minister said.
Loke attributed Anwar's achievements to his diplomatic skills and charisma on the international stage.
This, he said, was unlike former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad whom he claimed had offended China and India in 2018.
Loke also noted the strengthened relationship between Malaysia and Singapore under Anwar's premiership.
He pointed out that out of the 26 million visitors to Malaysia this year, nearly half were Singaporeans, many of whom visited Johor Bahru for shopping.
"So, this year, the Johor market will be relatively good, and next year will be even better because it's not just Singapore; we also provide visa-free entry for Chinese tourists, including those living in Singapore who are Chinese nationals." - Mkini
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