AT a first glance, the recently announced Premium Visa Programme (PVIP) by Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin allowing “residency through investment” seems to be a timely programme to attract “business tycoons” to invest in Malaysia in the post-COVID-19 pandemic landscape.
While this programme is not necessarily a badly-conceived one, there are other policies which can be implemented to achieve the desired objectives more effectively.
More importantly, there needs to be a comprehensive approach by the Home Ministry, together with other ministries such as the ministries of human resources and international trade and industry to make Malaysia an attractive and safe place for non-Malaysians from different groupings to live, learn, work, play and invest in the country for the long term and for the benefit of the country.
Firstly, rather than launch a new programme like the PVIP, the Home Ministry should roll back the unpopular revisions to the Malaysian My Second Home (MM2H) policy that was announced in 2021.
This includes increasing the monthly foreign offshore income of RM40,0000, increasing the fixed deposit requirement from RM150,000 to RM1,000,000, showing proof of liquid assets of RM1.5 mil and requiring a 90-day residency minimum stay period.
The MM2H programme, which started in 2002, is already a well-known programme among the expatriate community and has seen more than 40,000 successful applicants since its launch.
In a parliamentary reply to my colleague Hannah Yeoh in August this year, Hamzah stated that 1,461 people had withdrawn from the MM2H programme from Sept 2021 to June 2022.
There were only 267 new applications for this programme and I am confident that most of these new applications were for the MM2H programme in Sarawak as the Sarawak Government still maintains the previous guidelines for this programme, including requiring only a 15-day minimum residency period.
Without changing the harsh conditions imposed by Putrajaya on the MM2H programme, it is likely that we will see more people withdrawing from the MM2H programme rather than new applicants for the PVIP.
Focus on attracting skilled talent
Secondly, rather than focus on the “business tycoon” segment of the global population who can invest in Malaysia through other ways such as setting up their own companies to buy properties and factories, we should instead be focusing on attracting skilled talent to work in Malaysia, especially given the tight global labour market conditions.
Singapore, for example, recently announced the Overseas Networks and Expertise (ONE) pass for expats and their spouses to work in the country.
Indonesia has also launched a digital nomad visa for freelance and remote workers to work, live and play in places like Bali, while Thailand recently launched a 10-year Long Term Residency (LTR) visa aimed at digital entrepreneurs and foreigners with specialised skillsets.
With the continued fall in the unemployment rate in Malaysia and the increase in announced foreign direct investment (FDI), this is the right time to get rid of unnecessary red tape in the recruitment of highly skilled expatriates (such as the requirement to advertise jobs at the MyFutureJobs website for 30 days before an expatriate can be hired) to complement the local workforce.
At the same time, a digital nomad visa for remote and freelance workers should also be introduced as a regional competition for global talent heats up.
Malaysia needs to get its act together in this area especially since we are a much more cost-effective place to operate from compared to Singapore, which is seeing huge increases in the cost of housing because of the influx of expatriates relocating from China and Hong Kong to the city-state.
Don’t forget about undocumented migrants
Thirdly, Hamzah should not forget about a segment of the population that has the potential to become more productive members of the workforce and at the same time contribute to Malaysia’s economic recovery, namely undocumented migrants.
Many of the almost 200,000 undocumented migrants are already working informally. But because they do not have any official status in the country, many of them are exploited at their workplaces, including being abused by their employers, forced to work long hours without proper compensation and in some cases, cheated of their wages.
Most of these undocumented migrants are not allowed to open bank accounts, preventing them from accessing basic financial services and exposing them to a greater risk of being robbed of their cash savings.
Rather than forcing these migrants to register under the Tracking Refugees Information System (TRIS), which has been criticised by many including groups representing refugees, Hamzah should instead come up with a programme to allow undocumented migrants to apply for work legally and provide them with the necessary protections which workers in Malaysia have access to.
This should be a systematic programme for all undocumented migrants since past pilot projects involving Rohingya and Syrian refugees seemed to have not been effective.
Malaysia should capitalise on our location as a safe, cost-effective and attractive place to live, learn, work, play and invest for different groups of the international community and not just for the super-rich; in the long-term, the country will benefit from a more comprehensive migration and labour market reforms.
Let us not squander away these opportunities which have been provided to us as the result of the hard work of the front liners in the successful implementation of our COVID-19 vaccination policy under Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, which, in turn, has allowed us to open up our economy and borders in a safe and timely manner. – Sept 9, 2022
Dr Ong Kian Ming is the DAP MP for Bangi.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
Main pic credit: The Sun
