KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 — Meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions (MICE) can resume in areas currently under the movement control order (MCO) beginning March 5, Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced today.

However, the minister in charge of security in the Covid-19 pandemic said there will be a limit to the number of participants for the activities, which is set at 25 per cent of the venue capacity or no more than 250 people at a time.

“After taking all the view from the technical committee [of the National Security Council] and the Ministry of Health, we agreed to allowed MICE activities as well as face to face meetings in MCO areas with a maximum capacity of 25 per cent or a maximum of 250 people or whichever is smaller,” he said in a news conference.

Ismail explained that recent data presented by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture shows the MICE sector contributed RM2.2 billion to the nation’s economy last year compared to RM9.25 billion in 2019.

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He said the government agreed to lift the ban on such activities for economic reasons.

“Moreover, there are some 5,000 people in this industry who have lost their jobs and industry players are facing the possibility of going out of business very soon,” he said.

Ismail also announced that buskers and street musicians are allowed to operate again provided that they follow strict Covid-19 standard operating procedures.

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States under MCO are Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Johor and Penang. The order is set to expire on March 4.

All other states, except for Perlis and Sarawak, were placed under the conditional movement control order after February 18.