Director Abdul Mutalib Awang of "Tourism Malaysia Seoul" also serves as chairman of the Association of National Tourist Office in Korea (ANTOR Korea).
A total of 700 applications have been approved for the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) Programme for the first six months of the year, Director Abdul Mutalib Awang of Tourism Malaysia in Korea said.
Meeting with reporters on Sept.17 after successfully wrapping up "Malaysia My Second Home, Multi-City Promotion," which was held in Busan, Daegu, Daejon and Seoul from Sept.11 to 14. he said that Malaysia targeted about 2,500 applications for this year and the four countries with the most applications are Britain, Japan, Bangladesh and South Korea.
The preferred destinations for retirees for MM2H are Penang and eco-tourism areas and many have gotten to know Malaysia better, especially as this year is Visit Malaysia Year.
Since the programme started in 1996, when it was known as the Silver Hair programme, close to 10,500 applications have been approved.
A total of 8,723 applications have been approved under the MM2H programme, which was launched in 2002.
Director Abdul Mutalib Awang expressed hope that Malaysia would be able to attract half a million Korean tourists in the near future by promoting such primary tourist destinations as Langkawi, Penang, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah and Mulu in Sarawak as value-for-money destinations.
Hundreds of senior Korean citizens jam-packed at hotels in Busan, Daegu and Seoul when Tourism Malaysia organized the event to showcase the "Malaysia My Second Home" programme or popularly known as MM2H for short.
Deputy Tourism Minister Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai joined the events introducing in details about MM2H which offers non Malaysians a ten year renewable visa and various other privileges for their retirement life in Malaysia.
He also had face-to-face meetings with Korean retirees to explain about the MM2H.
Expatriate retirees enjoy living in Malaysia, which includes the low cost of living, developed infrastructure, friendly Malaysians, attractive tourist destinations and general quality of life, For those with children there are some excellent international schools.
On Sept.14, Deputy Tourism Minister Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai hosted members of Friends of Malaysia Club in Korea to a dinner at Westin Chosun Hotel to exchange views on ways of promoting friendship between people of two countries.
Director Abdul Mutalib Awang also said this year Malaysia recorded 10.7 million tourists for the first six months against estimated receipts of RM24.4 billion, up 24.8 percent compared to the same period last year.