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Malaysian Passport Classified As Fifth-Best Worldwide
The Malaysian passport has been ranked fifth among the best passports in the world in terms of visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to other countries by the Global Passport Power Rank 2018. This ranking is compiled by Montreal-headquartered financial advisory firm Arton Capital which focuses on citizenships by investment.
In the ranking, the Malaysian passport compares favourably to the passports of other countries, namely New Zealand, Australia, Malta and Iceland. The document allows visa-free or visa-on-arrival entry to 163 countries globally.
“Our passport with high security features was among the first in the world in e-passport usage that had a security chip planted inside,” said Malaysia’s immigration department director-general Mustafar Ali.
“It is to facilitate all immigration counter transactions. We are able to identify all information and profiles of passport holders, including movement and travel to each country when scanned at an immigration counter,” he added according to Bernama.
Mustafar said that the Malaysian passport was also difficult to forge as it had a security feature which could not be seen with the naked eye.
“The most important thing is that the Malaysian passport is made according to standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation, an agency under the United Nations for cross-border travel,” Ali said.
Within Southeast Asia, the Malaysian passport is only beaten by the Singaporean which ranks first alongside Germany, allowing visits to 165 countries without a prearranged visa. Brunei is also well-off on rank 17 with 143 countries to visit visa-free or with a visa on arrival.
Other regional countries fare much worse. Thailand is ranked 53 (80 countries), Indonesia 57 (76 countries), the Philippines 63 (69 countries), Cambodia 72 (58 countries), Vietnam 74 (56 countries), Laos 75 (55 countries) and Myanmar last on rank 79 (just 49 countries).
Source: http://investvine.com/malaysian-passport-classified-as-fifth-best-worldwide/