The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) version of Malaysian passport, which was launched today, is capable of protecting the identity of passport holders and minimising incidence of forgery, home minister said.

Hishammuddin Hussein said the new passport was in line with the ministry's objectives to combat human and drug trafficking which he said often involved the use of fake passports to fool the authorities.

He added that the ICAO version of the Malaysian passport was forgery-proof as it had a special security chip which would help the authorities strengthen control at the country's entry points.

"It will help the immigration to scan high-risk travellers more effectively apart from facilitating the movement of genuine travellers," he told reporters after launching the passport at KL International Airport today.

He said that the shift from the current e-passport to that of the ICAO was spurred by the need to secure the integrity of travel documents and putting in place a standard travel document for ICAO member countries.

"Holders of this new passport will be able to pass through immigration checks smoothly as they can go through automatic gates in all airports in ICAO member countries without the need to go to immigration counters," he said.

He added that the government would implement the passport in stages to ensure there was no wastage in the existing supply.

"The first phase will be implemented in the Klang Valley, Johor and Pahang from this month. This will be expanded nationwide between March and May, and to foreign missions abroad between July and August," he said.

He added ICAO version would have only 48 pages.

"The charges remain the same - RM300 for the five-year validity period and RM100 for the two-year validity period," he said, adding that current passport holders could still use the document until it expired.

"The introduction of the ICAO version will not incur the government any additional cost as it will be implemented based on existing contract," he said.

Malaysia is the 75th country adopting the ICAO passport.

- Bernama