Dismissing claims that the initiative solely targets Chinese nationals, Karim said a similar trend was observed in the Sarawak-Malaysia My Second Home (S-MM2H) programme, The Borneo Post reported.

“Our highest number of applicants are from China, Europe, the US and Singapore.

“But as it is, MM2H is open to all countries in the world, not just limited to China,” he said, adding that only Israelis and North Koreans are not allowed to apply for the programme.

Karim’s comments come two days after similar remarks by federal tourism, arts and culture minister Tiong King Sing, who ticked off a former minister over a claim that more than 20,000 Chinese nationals in the MM2H programme had been made permanent residents.

Rais Yatim had allegedly made the claim in response to a news report quoting Tiong as saying that Chinese applicants made up the majority of the 22,282 MM2H applications approved since 2015.

MM2H is a programme for foreigners who may obtain long-stay visas of up to 15 years in return for financial and property investment ranging from US$150,000 to US$2 million.