The Malaysian government will soon launch an Expatriate Services Department to encourage more foreigners to live and work in Malaysia.
According to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, the government was driven to boost and keep foreign talents in Malaysia to promote businesses and attract more foreign direct investment.
According to reports, the department is expected to be launched in March 2013. This new division will be part of the Immigration Departments progress towards rebranding itself. This new division will offer immigration services to expatriates and their dependants.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was quoted as saying to MySinchew.com that the division will be “rolled out in phases to provide integrated and seamless services, with a system and infrastructure upgrade, process streamlining, and customer-centric facilitation and services.”
“We’ve formed a joint working committee headed by Home Minister (Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein), Immigration Department and Talent Corp to coordinate with the relevant agencies to develop further innovation in the immigration policy and services,” said Najib.
In regards to foreign talents undermining the local talents in Malaysia, the Prime Minister said “foreign talents complement local talents and won’t take jobs away from locals. Foreign talents can be part of the nation’s economic dynamism and we can move forward together.” He also told MySinchew.com “I believe while the government nurtures local talents and try to keep them in Malaysia, global talents must find their place in Malaysia and complement local talents.”
According to The Star, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak also personally offered Residence Pass-Talent (RP-T) status to 21 corporate leaders, including foreign investors and experts in their respective fields. These corporate leaders are said to represent corporations in key sectors such as business services, oil and gas, financial services and education.
The RP-T allows foreign talents to live and work in Malaysia for up to 10 years, and is renewable. Now, instead of applying through the government for the RP-T, the government will personally offer it to eminent expatriates.
The RP-T was launched in April 2011. Since then, more than 1000 RP-Ts have been approve.
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