A recent talk by the Assistant Director of the Expatriate Services Division, Syamil Chelvam Shah, on the establishment of the Expatriate Services Division (ESD) in Malaysia revealed that the government aimed to have 100,000 expatriates under the employment pass by 2015. There are currently over 90,000 employment pass holders in Malaysia. If one were to add the dependents to this number, it would mean that there is a rough estimate of about 200,000 expats living in Malaysia.
The talk, held on the 12th of September at Aloft Kuala Lumpur Sentral, highlighted the new ESD system as well as the changes in the Immigration Department.
The ESD was launched by the Malaysian government to encourage more foreigners to live and work in Malaysia. The division offers immigration services to expatriates and their dependents. The ESD was also established to meet the aspirations of the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) to attract more highly skilled expatriates and serve a centralized service delivery for all immigration facilities.
The division is also aimed at streamlining and enhancing immigration service delivery for expatriate talent, especially for those with expertise needed by priority sectors spearheading Malaysia’s economic transformation.
According to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s statement in 2012, the government was driven to boost and keep foreign talents in Malaysia to promote businesses and attract more foreign direct investment.
The Prime Minister also said that “foreign talents complement local talents and won’t take jobs away from the locals. Foreign talents can be part of the nation’s economic dynamism and we can move forward together.”
Acting as a one-stop centre for expatriates, the ESD provides a single channel for expatriates or companies to submit all expatriate-related immigration matters via an integrated data platform which enables online applications. It offers an integrated service covering expatriate needs for Employment Pass, Dependent Pass, Social Visit Pass, Professional Visit Pass and Resident Pass-Talent.
The event was organised by the British Malaysian Chamber of Commerce together with event sponsor Talent Corp and event partner The Expat Group.
Read more: Malaysian Residence Pass
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