TOURISM, Arts and Culture Minister Tiong King Sing has called for an increase in  the number of Immigration counter staff on duty at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

The minister also asked for improved facial recognition procedures to streamline visitor entry into the country, particularly with the anticipated influx of tourists this year.

“The facial recognition system used by the Immigration Department should be extended to all international visitors and not limited to those holding long-term permits, to facilitate the clearance process.

“If Malaysia wants to welcome tourists and make the country a preferred destination, we need to solve this problem immediately,” he said in a statement yesterday.

According to Tiong, he had observed the tourist arrival process at KLIA and found that tourists were made to wait, some for almost two hours, for the immigration check-in process.

He also proposed that KLIA authorities consider deploying multilingual staff to make it easier for tourists when going through the inspection procedures. – Bernama, January 24, 2023.