The much-anticipated Sabah-Malaysia My Second Home (Sabah-MM2H) programme is expected to be implementable by next month after several amendments have been put in place, said Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew.
She said the government is in the process of finalising the terms and conditions of the programme.
“The State Cabinet has approved the amendments, and once these are gazetted, we will have the terms and conditions posted on the programme’s website for potential applicants,” Liew said during the Question and Answer session at the recent Tourism Industry Players Engagement Session 2024.
She was responding to the President of the Sandakan Tourism Association, Teo Chee Kim who wanted to know the qualifying criteria for participation in the Sabah-MM2H programme.
Teo also expressed concern over the impending time change for Air Asia’s current flight schedule, departing Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan at 4.30pm.
“I am afraid some travellers flying in from another destination may not be able to reach Kota Kinabalu on time for their connecting flight to Sandakan if the departure time is re-adjusted to 2.45pm,” he said.
Chief Executive Officer of Sabah Tourism Board (STB) Julinus Jeffery Jimit stressed that a frequent engagement with tourism industry stakeholders is crucial for resolving pertinent issues (affecting the industry) as emphasised by the Minister from day one.
He said the recent engagement showed the Ministry’s commitment via its agency STB to ensure embracement of one vision and purpose towards establishing a better tourism ecosystem in Sabah.
“We will continue to engage with tourism stakeholders on a quarterly or half-yearly basis as advised by (Datuk) Christina as this synergy can become a pillar of strength for success under the Government’s Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) development agenda.
“Together with industry players, I believe we can achieve the set target for tourism growth in 2024 under the able leadership of the Minister,” Julinus said at the close of the first engagement session of the year.
