Think Morocco, think a magnificent burst of colours and melting pot of cultures that’ll give anyone an instant case of wanderlust. After all, the North African country’s dynamic landscape of lush greenery, snow-capped mountains, sandy dunes and medieval cities influenced by the French and Spanish would entice anyone to book a flight ticket, stat.
Seriously though, their tile game is #everythinggoals.
Source: Pinterest
For Malaysians however, travelling to this beautiful part of the globe would require a visa. Yes, it’s a pretty ma fan (troublesome) process, but this will soon be a thing of the past because as of 27th December 2017, all Malaysian passport holders will be able to enter and stay in Morocco for 90 days sans the need of a visa, NST reported.
Woohoo!
Source: Living Nomads
Source: hassle free excursion
Last week on Friday (1st December), the Foreign Ministry announced that the Malaysian and Moroccan governments had signed the “Agreement of the Partial Abolition of Visa Requirement” earlier this year on 19th July at Wisma Putra.
The objective of this partial abolition, which was signed by Foreign Affairs Ministry secretary-general Datuk Ramlan Ibrahim on behalf of the government, is to allow citizens from both countries who possess a valid travel document to “enter into, exit from, or transit through the territory of the other country without visa for the purposes of official and social visits for a period of stay not exceeding 90 days”.
“Starting from the aforesaid effective date, holders of all Malaysian Diplomatic, Official and Ordinary passports will then be able to enter Morocco freely for 90 days, for official, business or social purposes without the requirement of a visa,” Ramlan said during the signing ceremony.
Source: Lonely Planet
Source: Condé Nast Traveller
Meanwhile, Wisma Putra stated that the enforcement of this agreement would further strengthen bilateral relations between Malaysia and Morocco, as it provides a platform to boost cooperation in various fields such as economy, trade, investment and tourism.
In 2016, it was reported that 2,927 Moroccans visited our country. Following the signing of this agreement, Ramlan predicted that the number of visitors will gradually increase.
To date, Morocco marks the 34th country to have inked a similar agreement with Malaysia, with the last one being Bangladesh in 2014, Ramlan added.
Source: Wazari Wazir
So, it looks like we can finally skip the hassle of obtaining a visa for another country. With our Malaysian passport being ranked 6th most powerful in the world (beating the likes of Australia and New Zealand), hopefully this will move us up a few notches (or straight to #1) next year!
In the meantime, who wants to discover Morocco’s hidden gems with me? 😛
Source: Song of Style
Also read: 10 Most Unique, Bucket-List-Worthy Things to Do Around the World For Under RM150!
