Malaysia to Set Up Expatriate Services Department

Expat Globe

The Malaysian government has embarked on a new drive to attract foreign and expatriate investment in the country. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has announced a new Expatriate Services Department designed to smooth the immigration of expats and their families.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak saught to smooth local fears about foreign competition for domestic jobs, "In fact, 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."

"It has never been done before but, today, we are offering you (corporate leaders) the residence pass-talent (RP-T).

"RT-T is an immigration innovation introduced last year to enable top foreign talent to apply to stay here for 10 years. Today, some need not even apply as we offer RP-T to eminent expatriates."

Google Malaysia country business head Sajith Sivanandan said, "One of the key things needed to grow as a country is to get foreign talents to increase the skills of locals."

Malaysia has watched with envy its near neighbour Singapore grow wealthy in part due to an influx of Western expatriates and would like to also attract the investment that an expat community can bring.

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