I refer to the new procedures for hiring expatriates and foreign workers as announced by the human resources minister on Oct 26, and which comes into effect on Nov 1.
The new regulations make it mandatory for all applications, be it new or renewals of work permits, to first be advertised for 30 days at the MYFuturejobs website run by Socso. Only if no Malaysians qualify can expatriates be then employed.
Although the intent of the new regulations may be noble and rational in the current scenario where many Malaysians are unemployed, it is likely to backfire and have a negative affect on our foreign direct investments (FDI).
Consequently, we will see a decrease if not complete absence of new FDIs. Worse still, the multinational corporations (MNC) that are already here may contemplate withdrawing their investments and relocating to other developing nations.
As it is, we are facing very stiff competition from other Southeast Asian nations, like Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Laos. Additionally, China and India are also our fierce competitors.
MNCs invest billions of dollars to establish their businesses in Malaysia and it is only fair and reasonable that the government does not meddle in their operations. The expatriate staff they bring in are to make sure their investments and interests are well taken care of.
The government needs to be reminded that when foreign investors decide to invest in Malaysia, one of the many tacit understandings and guarantees that the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) accords them is that they will be able to bring in their expertise via what is known as key posts.
The new regulations are tantamount to us going back on our word and breaking the promise that was given to these investors. Thus, creating a trust deficit.
Japanese MNCs are the leading investors in Malaysia and they bring in their own expatriates from Japan who are highly-competent and technically-skilled to assume some of the top and key positions in the company.
The other reason for this is that most of their products are exported back to their customers in Japan and elsewhere in the world. Thus, not only job competency and technical skills are paramount, cultural and language competencies are also critical.
MIDA has 21 overseas offices covering Asia, Europe, the US, Middle East and Australia to promote inward manufacturing and services investments into Malaysia. And Malaysia is spending hundreds of millions of dollars annually in maintaining these offices.
Thus, it will be a disservice to MIDA and all its efforts if the government introduces new regulations without first considering the negative outcome.
Realising the importance of FDIs, former chief secretary to the government Mohd Sidek Hassan, who was the then international trade and industry (Miti) secretary-general, had established and set up an Immigration Unit at MIDA to facilitate the smooth administration and issuance of expatriate and dependent visas.
Even that is being dismantled now as the government introduced in September a new regulation that requires all expatriate work permits issuance and renewals to be directed to MyExpat.
No one knows the real intention behind this move but more money needs to be spent in processing fees and the process is tedious, inefficient and cumbersome.
Ironically, all the top positions of MIDA’s overseas offices are staffed by Malaysian expatriates just like Petronas, our foreign missions and other Malaysian MNCs abroad. What if those countries too insist on new regulations that will require our expatriates to undergo the same treatment as we intend to introduce?
Please engage and collaborate with the foreign chambers of commerce like the Japanese Chamber of Trade & Industry Malaysia (Jactim), American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (Amcham) and other stakeholders before making unilateral decisions which will be akin to shooting one’s own foot.
And if the government still insists on going ahead with the plans to introduce the new regulations, then let us close down MIDA and all its offices worldwide, as this will save us billions of ringgit which is very much needed now to save our beloved country from not just the pandemic but also the many other ills that we have self-inflicted on ourselves.
Please facilitate rather than frustrate the foreign investors if we value and welcome them.
Roslan Sharif is an FMT reader.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.