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Mata: Extend moratorium for another six months

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Association Tour Agency (Mata) has recommended that the government extend the loan moratorium period for at least another six months in the 2021 Budget which will be tabled next week.

Its president Datuk Mohd Khalid Harun said the move would give industry players the chance to restructure their company’s finances following the implementation of the Movement

Mohd Khalid said industry players cannot rely solely on domestic tourism because the sector contributes less than 20 per cent of the total tourism sector income.

In addition he also proposed that the wage subsidy be continued so that tourism operators do not have to lay off their workers which would at the same time help over 3.6 million workers in the sector from being unemployed.

He also hoped that the government could restructure the Penjana Tourism Sector Financing Scheme of RM1 billion by allowing existing government agencies to manage the funds.

Apart from giving licence fee exemption until 2022, he said, the government should also provide attractive tax relief packages including income tax exemption to licensed travel companies and further encourage investment in the tourism industry

“The government should take our call seriously because the tourism sector had contributed a significant amount of revenue as it was ranked third, having contributed 15.9 per cent to the Malaysian economy after the manufacturing and commodity sectors, in 2019,” he said. — Bernama

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