New Perkeso Expatriate Process Will Drive Out Foreign Investments

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MP SPEAKS | I refer to the news report by The Edge, “Vacancies for rehiring programme, expatriates to go through myfuturejobs effective Nov 1”. It is unfortunate that once again the government is interfering in the operations of businesses in Malaysia instead of doing all it can to allow businesses to flourish. 
The new process announced by the Ministry of Human Resources is not only unnecessary but will burden businesses that are already in Malaysia and deter those who intend to come here.
Why make the process harder when the current system works fine and instead be completely oblivious to the consequences of this new policy? Why did the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government make such a poor policy decision without consultation with employer and employee groups, chambers of commerce, and other stakeholders?
The process of a Social Security Organisation (Perkeso) officer sitting in every interview for an expatriate is completely foolish. Businesses and not the government should determine which employee is good enough.
This process is highly invasive and will interfere with the employer's decision process. Privacy for these companies' hiring process will no longer exist.
Why doesn’t the government see that this move will only drive them out to a more business-friendly nation? As it also applies to the renewal of expatriate positions, Malaysia will no longer be able to attract foreign talent that is suitable to drive the digital growth the country should be focusing on.
There are reports that Malaysia intends to position itself as a global supply chain hub in Asia. How can we achieve this when we add policies like this?
When FDIs and MNCs no longer regard Malaysia as business-friendly, the consequence is increasing unemployment. Businesses will then look at emerging markets like Indonesia and Vietnam that have attractive policies and institutional frameworks for businesses to thrive.
I urge the PN government to reconsider this grave mistake. Create more business-friendly institutional frameworks that will serve to drive more FDIs and in return create more new jobs that will benefit Malaysians.
I also urge the PN government to engage all stakeholders before making important policy decisions, as they have a grave effect on our economy.

M KULA SEGARAN is Ipoh Barat MP and former human resources minister. - Mkini

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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