Kuala Lumpur, Sept 8 — Federal lawmaker Ong Kian Ming today suggested the government work to attract highly-skilled foreigners to live long-term here than target "tycoons" to strengthen Malaysia's economic competitiveness.
He was responding to Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin's recent announcements about the Premium Visa Programme (PVIP) for long-term visitors to the country that requires applicants to have at least RM1 million in a fixed deposit account, a monthly income of RM40,000 or an annual income of RM480,000, and a one-off registration fee of RM200,000 for the applicant while additional dependents will be charged RM100,000 each.
"Rather than focus on the ‘business tycoons’ 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,” the Bangi MP said in a statement.
He pointed out that other countries in South-east Asia like Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand were stepping up their game to boost their post-Covid economic recovery by offering tailored visa programmes to lure foreign talents.
"A digital nomad visa for remote and freelance workers should also be introduced as the regional competition for global talent has heated 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, ” said Ong.
He also suggested the government reverse its unpopular revisions to the Malaysian My Second Home (MM2H) programme to prevent more long-stay foreigners from leaving the country.
Citing the Home Ministry's own data provided in Parliament just last month, he noted that 1,461 foreigners withdrew from the MM2H program in the past 10 months, between September 2021 and June this year.
"There were only 267 new applications for this program and I am confident that most of these new applications were for the program in Sarawak as they still maintains the previous guidelines,” said Ong.
The revised MM2H made in 2021 requires foreigners applying for a long-term stay to have a minimum monthly foreign offshore income between RM10,000 and RM40,000; fixed deposits between RM150,000 and RM1,000,000; and show proof of RM1.5 million in liquid assets. They must also stay in Malaysia for a minimum of 90 days.
Ong who is also the DAP spokesman for international trade and investment, also reminded the government of the large number of foreigners already in the country who have the potential to productively contribute to the economy.
He noted there are currently some 200,000 undocumented migrants who could be a labour force to reckoned with legally if the government could improve on red tape.
"Malaysia should capitalise on our location as a safe, cost-effective, and attractive place to live, learn, work, play, and invest for different groups and not just for the super-rich.
"In the long-term, the country will benefit from a more comprehensive migration and labour market reforms,” he added.
