Amid controversy behind the Visit Malaysia 2020 logo and tagline, the Chief Secretary to the Government has gone on social media to point out the role that tourism plays in the country's economy. Datuk Seri Dr Ismail Bakar said that the tourism sector is one of the major contributors to the nation's economic success.

"Indisputably, Malaysia has proven its ability in the industry by consistently being in the top 10 tourism destinations and overall dominating ways to generate income for the nation."

"Hence, with the launch of the new Visit Malaysia logo, it will be one of the mechanisms to attract more tourists, indirectly boosting the domestic tourism industry and creating enormous job potentials for the people," he said in his Instagram account.

The Culture, Arts and Tourism Minister had earlier dismissed allegations that the new VM2020 logo incorporated another hornbill illustration in its design, adding that the logo was a completely original piece of work.

The tagline "Visit Truly Asia Malaysia 2020" also received criticism, and the minister said the usage of the English language in the logo was correct.

Malaysia aims to see 30 million international tourist arrivals next year and bring in tourist receipts of RM100bil.

VMY2020 if the fifth edition under the Visit Malaysia tourism campaign, the first being under 1990, also launched by Dr Mahathir when he was then Prime Minister.