MALAYSIA is not the only country that’s opening up its borders – both domestically and internationally – as “living with COVID-19” strategy seems to be the way forward for most ASEAN countries moving forward.
In fact, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and Brunei are moving towards making such strategy a way of life instead of the “zero COVID-19” strategy favoured previously, according to AmResearch.
On Oct 2, Indonesia allowed 10,000 people to attend the opening ceremony of its maiden large-scale sports event at a stadium with 40,000 capacity, thus adhering to the 25% maximum capacity imposed by the authorities. Other requirements include the need for COVID-19 tests to be performed before entry, mask wearing and social distancing.
On Oct 9, Singapore announced that it will allow quarantine-free travel into the country for eight more countries namely Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, the UK and the US (vaccinated visitors only).
Back home, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced yesterday (Oct 10) that interstate travel will be allowed for fully vaccinated Malaysians starting today as well as to travel overseas without having to apply for MyTravelPass from the Immigration Department.
“Based on the percentage of the population which has been fully vaccinated, Malaysia is ranked the third highest among ASEAN countries,” observed analyst Alan Lim Seong Chun in an economic strategy note.
“This paves the way for more economy activities to resume although it may not be a full recovery to match that of the pre-COVID-19 era.”
AmResearch is positive on the current development as the high vaccination rate is a leading indicator that economic activities should recover faster in Malaysia as compared to most countries in ASEAN.
“We notice a significant recent improvement in that the country’s COVID-19 situation. The latest number of new cases have declined to 7,373 on Oct 10 which is much lower than the peak of 24,599 cases reported on Aug 26,” noted the research house.
“The lower number of cases is mainly attributed to the decline in new cases in Selangor. Recall that on Aug 6, Selangor’s daily new cases peaked at 8,792 but have since fallen to 1,015 cases as of Oct 10.”
On the overall, the news is positive to Malaysia’s equity market with the sector which stands to benefit the most being the transportation sector, specifically Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) and Perak Transit Bhd, according to AmResearch.
“For MAHB, it should translate into higher passenger volume. As for Perak Transit, the company should benefit from higher rental income from its integrated public transportation terminal segment as footfall recovers,” added the research house. – Oct 11, 2021
