PETALING JAYA: The government has ensured that the Malaysian international passports are equipped with high security features and the workers involved in processing and printing the documents are not “criminals.”
Minister of Home Affairs, Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin said, 70 per cent of the safety features and design of the passport are done by the Malaysians and as such it is difficult to be copied by the criminals outside the country.
“The purpose of the visit to Datasonic Technologies Sdn. Bhd.- group factory is to make sure that the Malaysian passport maintained the safety features after it has not been used greatly due to the COVID-19 pandemic for the past two years.
“If the passport is not the best at least it is one of the best in the world,” Hamzah said at the press conference after visiting Datasonic Group factory here Friday.
Hamzah added, the demand to renew passports and to change the validity dates will obviously increase following the reopening of the international borders today (1st April).
Hamzah added, yesterday 150,000 passports had been sent to the Immigration Department of Malaysia (IDM) and currently it has more than 330,000 in the stock.
“If the present stock is not enough then Datasonic has 600,000 passports ready to be given out to IDM,” Hamzah said.
He said, IDM has projected two million new passport applications will be made this year. Before the pandemic, 300,000 applications have been received every month.
“We are anticipating for a surge in passport applications with the reopening of the borders. If application via online is more than our projection then the people could be requested to come later in a week.
“For foreign travellers who require visas and permits, all IDM offices are open in full capacity. In the current situation, most importantly IDM is ready not only in the main office but all counters nationwide are prepared to serve the people,” Hamzah said. –Malaysia World News
