KOTA KINABALU, Feb 15 — Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Christina Liew requested the Japanese government to further review the travel advisory barring its citizens from visiting the islands on Sabah’s east coast.

She made the request when the Ambassador of Japan to Malaysia, Shikata Noriyuki, paid a courtesy call on her early this week.

“There are still some travel restrictions issued by the government of Japan. We need to continue to receive the objective assessment of the current situation, and if the situation is deemed to have significantly improved, the Japanese government could review her policy in an appropriate way. So, we hope there will be continuing provision of relevant information from Sabah to us,” Shikata said.

He was responding to Liew who expressed the hope that the Japanese government will completely lift the travel ban.

In retrospect, she said the Japanese government had in December last year partially lifted the ban whereby Japanese nationals are allowed to visit Tawau, Sandakan and Lahad Datu, if necessary, but they are still not allowed to travel to the islands off Semporna.

She encouraged the Japanese ambassador to visit the islands to assess the security level there.

“Overall, Sabah is a safe destination to visit. The kidnapping incident involving Sipadan Island occurred more than 20 years ago,” she told Shikata.

“Last year, the foreign ambassadors who attended the Malaysian Home Minister’s briefing and security survey of the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (Esszone) were impressed by the security measures put in place by the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom). I was with them on the trip.”

Shikata described his meeting with the Sabah minister as a special one, having learned a lot about the State policy of promoting tourism to Sabah. “The minister has made a lot of difference in promoting tourism, and I hope under her leadership, more Japanese tourists will come to Sabah and vice versa, and thus contribute to the mutual understanding between the two travel destinations.”

The ambassador called for greater publicity on Sabah with additional information for the Japanese citizens to better understand the regional landscape and know what is happening in the state.

He advocated academic collaboration with more Sabah students coming to Japan and more Japanese students studying at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS).

Liew stressed that Japan is an important partner in terms of trade and tourism, which is picking up post pandemic, while proposing Japan’s investment in Sabah’s frozen seafood industry and enhance cultural exchange.

The duo believe the goal of increasing the number of tourists to Sabah and vice versa is achievable through the revival of flights from Kota Kinabalu to Tokyo and Kota Kinabalu to Narita.

They welcomed the good news that the flight from Kota Kinabalu to Haneda will take place on February 24 after a long lapse.

Shikata is also in favour of having Japanese travel agencies operating in Sabah. “There used to be one here but stopped its services due to the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Also present during the courtesy call were the ministry’s permanent secretary Datuk Josie Lai, and Political and Protocol Officer Kana Masubuchi from the Embassy of Japan in Malaysia. — The Borneo Post