Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah
SIBU: The suggestion put forth by Malaysian Association of Hotels (Sarawak Chapter) secretary-general John Teo Peng Yew on the setting-up of a duty-free zone in the state receives full support from Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youths and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
In his proposal, Teo viewed having a duty-free zone in Sarawak would further enhance state tourism in view of Visit Malaysia Year (VMY) 2020, as announced during the tabling of Budget 2018 last Friday.
Moreover, he said Miri city – specifically Senadin – could be considered as a strategic location for the proposed duty-free zone in that it is near to Brunei and Sabah.
According to Teo, there are many products that can be declared duty-free such as clothing, cookware, cars and food items – pointing out that Langkawi could be a good model for this as far as the management of a duty-free zone goes.
On this, Abdul Karim agreed with Teo.
“Having one (duty-free zone) in Miri can boost the tourism industry in Miri,” said Abdul Karim.