Marco Winter heads the Malaysian Dutch Business Council (MDBC) and is in his eighth year promoting Malaysia as an investment destination to Dutch entrepreneurs. He has the network to attract investors and business people to Malaysia and vital skills to organise and manage events for them. Most importantly, he has the platform to connect Dutch and Malaysian trading partners.

With his networks and skills plus a post-graduate education in the United States, Winter is a prized professional. His mobility meant he could choose any country to build his career and contribute to the nation’s growth. Yet, his roots are deeply planted in his adopted country, Malaysia.
 

Permanent Residence – Talent (PR-T)

Recognising that articulate, talented, and highly-skilled professionals, such as Winter, are keenly sought after by developed nations and emerging economies, Talent Corp Malaysia Berhad (Talent Corp) digs deep into its arsenal to keep them in Malaysia. Talent Corp facilitated Winter’s application for Permanent Resident – Talent (PR-T) and within four months, Winter proudly showed off his red Identification Card (IC) – the first recipient of PR-T via Talent Corp.

Winter, who is married to a Malaysian with three children aged from 16 to 22 years old, first came to Malaysia as a result of the economic crisis in the Netherlands in 1993.  

“I had been to Malaysia three times for holidays and to visit family,” Winter explained, adding that his wife is from Sabah. “I felt quite comfortable here and decided to find work in Malaysia. While looking for a corporate job I could rely on my tennis skills to make a temporary living as a tennis coach here.  We had arrived in KL from Holland at 11pm and the next morning at 7am, I was already coaching tennis with some kids in Petaling Jaya.”

Since then, Winter has lived and worked in Malaysia for almost 20 years and has long wanted to make his stay more permanent. For Winter, he is truly at home now in Malaysia.
 

The Malaysian PR-T Journey …

Applying for the Malaysian PR in the past has always been mired in bureaucratic delays. Long-staying foreign spouses who wanted to make this country their permanent home can only dream about the option as many have been tried and failed.  

“Since the second half of the 1990s, the Immigration Department made it easier to apply for the spouse programme visa,” Winter recalled. “I was actually the first foreign husband who went through the application in 1995/96. An immigration officer guided Patricia how to apply for it and we got my spouse visa quite fast. Initially, it was for six months, later, we got the visa up to two years.”

Winter who briefly revisited the idea of moving back to Holland after the 9/11 incident in America, recalled the family took an extended Christmas holiday in 2001. Whilst in Holland, Winter checked out the job-market via his former associates there, yet, he and his wife, Patricia Tan, felt their future was in Malaysia and returned East to continue building their businesses and careers.

When the Winters broached on the idea of applying for Malaysian PR in 2005, they did not pursue it earnestly as it became easier to continue renewing his spouse visa and the “horror” stories about the PR application deterred them from starting the process.

“In 2010, I had been working with MIDA for a while and they indicated to me the Government was planning to issue special passes for long-staying foreigners such as me,” Winter recalled.

By then, Winter as Executive Director of the MDBC was ready to apply for PR status to confirm a more permanent base in Malaysia and to facilitate setting up his own company.  MIDA recommended Winter to Talent Corp that he be eligible for a more permanent status and the agency proposed PR–T to Winter. It was indeed a welcome surprise.
    

PR–T … Why is it important?

In today’s globalised world where talented and highly skilled professionals are mobile and can choose the nation most suited to them to contribute their knowledge, Winter said “HR becomes a tough issue.”

“The way Talent Corp works by helping foreigners married to Malaysians get PR is necessary and practical,” Winter explained. “Most expats here do not want to relocate and giving those who qualify for PR is a good way to keep talents here.

“Without talents here, there will be so much less investment!”

An entrepreneur himself, having initially worked for an events management company that launched Stadium Shah Alam in 1994, Winter said “with the right attitude (in a talent), there’s always opportunity (awaiting the talent).”  Over the years, Winter has been involved in events management, sponsorships, TV productions, marketing, lecturing, sports and recreation, and events and promotions management for resort hotels.

Winter said that the variety of his work activities over the years show that Malaysia is a unique country where foreigners can succeed in building their businesses or develop their careers.

Now with Talent Corp assisting those who qualify to get PR-T or even Residence Pass, Malaysia will truly be en-route to becoming a developed nation by 2020.
 

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