KUCHING, Sept 4 ― Sarawak will continue to offer the Sarawak-Malaysia My Second Home (S-MM2H) programme to foreigners although the federal government has decided to suspend the MM2H until this December 31.

State Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister, Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said foreigners could apply for the S-MM2H by abiding to the new enhanced regulations and requirements for the programme which came into effect on September 1.

"The S-MM2H programme will not be affected by the federal government’s suspension of the MM2H programme and all interested foreigners are welcome to apply,” he said at a press conference to announce the enhanced S-MM2H regulations and requirements, here, today.

According to him, the MM2H had to be temporarily suspended as the federal Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry needed to review and re-evaluate the programme since its inception in 2002.

"As part of the response to post-Covid-19 recovery, Sarawak needs to actively continue to diversify its tourism beyond leisure tourism by looking at the potential of the S-MM2H in recent years in bringing in quality visitors,” he said.

Abdul Karim said the outbreak of Covid-19 globally, coupled with the enforcement of movement restriction and border control had caused a sharp decline in travel and leisure, resulting in an unprecedented severe impact on Sarawak's tourism sector.

"The promotion of high-yield quality tourism like via the S-MM2H programme for longer stay will certainly benefit the tourism sector in Sarawak through the potential expenditure revenue and residential investment,” he said.

Abdul Karim said the ministry was expecting the S-MM2H programme to have 1,000 new participants, generating an estimated RM8.34 million in revenue and RM31 million in investment by 2030.

"The newly revised S-MM2H programme will certainly benefit all stakeholders, in particular with the use of registered agents to create new jobs and boosting economic growth in Sarawak,” he added. ― Bernama