 "'Security at Malaysian airports is of international standard'")
Security at airports in Malaysia is of international standard and instance of passengers travelling on a fake passport is not unique to that country, Dato Mirza Mohammad Taiyab, director general of Tourism Malaysia told mediapersons on Tuesday.
He added that the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 had led to deferrals in visits by Chinese tourists but there was no impact on arrivals from other countries. Taiyab is leading a delegation to promote Malaysia as a tourism destination. The tourism minister of Malaysia however skipped the visit following the incident.
Taiyab said government would address concerns regarding the immigration system. "This has happened in other places. It is unfortunate it happened in Kuala Lumpur,'' he said referring to the instance of passengers on Malaysia Airlines MH-370 flight who used fake passports. "The security at Kuala Lumpur international airport is of international standards. It handles 40 million passengers annually. Passengers have very little to fear,'' he added.
Malaysia's consul general in Mumbai M Hatimi Abas said "This is an unprecedented incident. It is a learning curve for us. We can assure that our government has taken the incident seriously and we will take all measures to offer the best of security.''
"The search (for the plane) is on. Nobody knows where the plane is. This tourism promotion event was planned before this incident happened. We decided to go ahead. Accidents do happen. That does not mean everything will come to a standstill,'' Taiyab remarked.
Last year 6.5 lakh Indian tourists visited Malaysia and this year the country is expecting close to eight lakh tourists.