The Malaysian government has introduced a new five-year multiple entry visa in a bid to attract more foreign business investors.
Malaysia
The visa will enable business investors to enter Malaysia without having to first apply for a two-year employment pass – an extremely lengthy process which has been given as one of the main reasons behind the country’s failure to gain significant foreign investment; especially compared to other countries in the region.
“Over the coming years, we will work to open up our markets to a wider spectrum of individuals, communities and businesses,” said Prime Minister Najib Razak, at an international investment seminar on Saturday.“We would like new investors into the region to seriously consider using Malaysia as their springboard into the Asean.”
Delegates from a number of countries, including fellow Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, Hong Kong, Japan, UK, US and the Middle East, were present at the seminar.
The new multiple-entry visa is just the latest in a line of recent amendments made to the country’s immigration system since the creation of an Expatriate Services Division (ESD) earlier this year.
In December last year, the Malaysian government began awarding ten-year residence passes to leading corporate leaders in various fields from overseas, while a company has also been formed specifically to lure back skilled Malaysians working overseas.