Pangkor duty-free proposal stays, Perak MB says

IPOH, Aug 13 — The Perak government will continue plans to grant Pangkor Island duty-free status, Perak Mentri Besar Ahmad Faizal Azumu said today.

During his winding-up speech at the Perak state assembly here today, Ahmad Faizal said the proposal, which was first announced by former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak during the 2018 Budget announcement, would not be cancelled.

Ahmad Faizal was responding to a question posed by Pangkor assemblyman and former mentri besar Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadir.

"To answer Pangkor's question about Pangkor Island's duty-free status, the state government will still continue the proposal," he said.

"The state government is always committed to support any efforts to make Pangkor Island one of the main tourism destinations in Malaysia."

Ahmad Faizal however, noted that the list of tax-free items and the implementation of the proposal was still being studied by the Finance Ministry.

When tabling Budget 2018, Najib had said the island would be declared tax free, with the exception of tobacco, alcohol and vehicles.  

Meanwhile, Zambry had also said that authorities need to iron out the issue of how many days visitors were required to stay on Pangkor Island before they are allowed to purchase duty-free items.

Local tourism players had previously said that the duty-free status was a good idea if authorities used the tax-free status to bring in stores that sold branded goods like chocolates, perfumes and clothing.