At a press conference, Hamzah said he believed the MM2H programme would receive the same response it had received in previous years.

He said the ministry had already received 111 applications since November, with 15 already approved.

Gauging from the response, he said it was likely that at least 1,000 people would apply for the programme this year, similar to previous years.

Last August, the government announced new conditions for the MM2H programme, including the requirement for applicants to have permanent savings of at least RM1 million and a declaration of liquid assets of at least RM1.5 million.

Previously, they only needed to have savings of between RM300,000 and RM500,000.

An MM2H applicant must now also have an offshore income of at least RM40,000 a month, up from RM10,000 per month.

“We want quality participants as they can contribute to the country,” said Hamzah, adding that if all 111 applications were approved, they would contribute some RM1 billion to the country.

According to data from Malaysia My Second Home Consultants Association, the MM2H programme contributed RM38.17 billion to the economy between 2002 and 2019.