National Recovery Council (MPN) chairman Muhyiddin Yassin said the council had recommended that the government start opening the country’s borders in stages from last month.

“The MPN has proposed that the country’s borders be opened in stages as soon as possible. We proposed it in January, but it has not happened. The government must have a definite timeline, one month, two months (to open the border).

“We cannot keep the borders closed. The economic recovery process will not happen. Now, there is some economic recovery, but it is limited and we will not succeed,” he told reporters after attending a Chinese New Year reception organised by Gerakan here today.

The MPN had previously proposed that the country’s borders be opened to international visitors by Jan 1.

According to Muhyiddin, the border opening could be done in stages by enforcing strict SOPs, including quarantine and increased screenings following the spread of the Omicron variant.