Malaysian ambassador to Qatar, Ahmad Jazri Mohamed Johar, recently held that Malaysia is fast becoming an attractive destination for many Qataris, who travel to the Southeast Asian nation for its education and leisure amenities.
Johar credited this surge in tourist arrivals from Qatar to the series of promotional campaigns such as food and cultural festivals launched by the embassy.
He noted that more and more Qataris, including expatriates working in Qatar, are now travelling to Malaysia. With the embassy’s launch of promotions and media coverage, the embassy looks forward to receiving more tourists from Qatar,” reports Gulf Times.
Johar also cited that few Qataris also send their children to colleges in Malaysia, thereby contributing to the increase in the number of visits. He stressed that tourism and education are among the major growth drivers of the Malaysian economy.
The Gulf Times reported him saying as, “We have 160,000 foreign students in Malaysia. And just like Qatar, we have several international universities, including educational institutions from Australia, the UK, and the US. As a leisure destination, we are ranked 10th worldwide in terms of tourist arrivals with 30 million visitors annually.”
Moreover, the minister invited the business community to invest in Malaysia, which he said is strategically-located at the centre of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) market.
The minister pointed out that the government will be spending $15bn in the next two to three years for its mass rapid transit project.
Plans of building a high-speed rail between Singapore and Malaysia – a 400km journey that will take 90 minutes to travel from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, are also on the cards, as suggested by Johar.
