Malaysia harbours no ill-intention by its decision to freeze the issuance of visas to visitors from severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) affected countries, said acting Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today.

"We love everybody to come to Malaysia. We are a good host and friendly but with the situation we are in today we unfortunately have to have restriction.

"We regret doing it although we know we have to do it," he was quoted as saying by Bernama .

The acting premier was asked to comment o­n a news report today of an alleged threat by Taiwan to boycott Malaysia's tourism industry in protest over the visa ruling o­n its citizens.

For common good

Last Wednesday, Malaysia imposed an immediate freeze o­n the issuance of visas to visitors of five countries - China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Canada.

Explaining further, he said Malaysia also had its own problems with the disease and countries affected by the visa ruling should understand that it was made for the common good.

He added that it was the logical move to take to contain the spread of the deadly disease and even made at the expense of the country's tourism industry.

"But we hope with it, maybe we can manage this problem better and after that we can open the door to visitors again. If not, it is going to be very difficult and even become worse. That is what we want to avoid," he said.

Abdullah said the visa ruling was not made o­n the directive of the World Health Organisation (WHO) but o­n the advice of the country's health experts.

On the decision to impose travel restriction o­n visitors from the United States and United Kingdom following reports of suspected Sars cases, he said it would be up to a committee headed by Health Minister Chua Jui Meng to make recommendations.

No impact

In a related development, Taipei Investors Association said the freeze has yet to have a serious impact o­n trade between Malaysia and Taiwan.

However, there have been many calls from businessmen from Taiwan worried about their business deals here, its president Dr Frank S Lee was quoted as saying by Bernama .

He said most of them were concerned about their travel arrangement as they were uncertain about the Malaysia's visa issuance procedure.

"Anyway, we have informed and assured them that the temporary ban does not affect those travelling o­n business or official matter," he said in a press conference here.

Lee noted that the visa ban would have an impact o­n travel agencies operating between the two countries but added that it was too early to predict the extent of any damage.

He also expressed hope that the government will take more initiatives to keep businessmen updated with the latest development o­n the visa issuance procedure and review the ban decision as soon as possible.

Retrenchment woes

Meanwhile, Human Resources Minister Dr Fong Chan o­nn said industries affected by the viral outbreak should not retrench workers to solve their financial crisis.

He said employers should consider this as a temporary setback and seek solutions to retain workers.

Following the outbreak, the hospitality industry and airline companies have been severely affected.

"We also received report from hotels in Sabah where thousands of bookings were cancelled and they asked the ministry's advice o­n how to manage their workers," he said in a Bernama report.

Fong said the ministry would discuss with workers unions to draw up guidelines and proposals for the industries to tackle the issue.