JOHOR BARU, Nov 9 — The Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) between Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and Singapore’s Changi Airport will pave the way for the eventual reopening of Johor’s land border with the island republic, said Datuk Mohd Izhar Ahmad.

The Johor Investment, Cooperatives, Entrepreneurship Development and Human Resource Committee chairman said he was hopeful that the VTL signified the start to the reopening of the land border between both countries.

"The VTL is a good and positive sign that the border will reopen in stages soon,” he said when met after officiating a career carnival in Bandar Baru Uda here today.

Mohd Izhar added that the state government would be preparing to welcome investors to Johor once borders fully reopen through the business travel centre (BTC) as announced in the federal Budget 2022.

"Under Budget 2022, Johor is allocated RM10 million to build the BTC located at the Second Link Crossing, but the state government also wants a second BTC at the Causeway.

"Currently, the BTC is located at KLIA and can attract about 100 investors. But at the Causeway, which is the busiest land crossing in the world, it could possibly attract thousands,” said the Larkin assemblyman.

Mohd Izhar pointed out that the cost of having one BTC was between RM17 and RM18 million.

"However, the state government will be requesting for more funds from the federal government,” he said, adding that the BTC is expected to be completed by the first quarter of next year.

Yesterday, Malaysia and Singapore announced that they would reopen their mutual border with a VTL between KLIA and Changi Airport from November 29.

In a joint statement, the prime ministers of both countries said the decision followed the significant progress in vaccinating their citizens and in managing the Covid-19 pandemic

They agreed that it was timely to progressively resume cross-border travel between both countries in a safe manner.

Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Lee Hsien Loong said they recognised that Covid-19 had disrupted people-to-people connections between both sides and had separated families for many months.

Under the VTL, fully vaccinated travellers will be able to travel between Singapore and Malaysia and will only be required to take Covid-19 tests in lieu of serving quarantine or a stay-at-home notice.

The border between Malaysia and Singapore has been closed since March 18, 2020 when the former announced the first lockdown to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus.