KUALA LUMPUR: Dewan Rakyat yesterday passed amendments to three bills to liberalise professional services such as engineering, architecture and quantity surveying.
They were the Registration of Engineers (Amendment) Bill 2014, the Architects (Amendment) Bill 2014 and the Quantity Surveyors (Amendment) Bill 2014.
Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said the amendments were in line with the government’s agenda to further liberalise the services industry to attract foreign direct investments (FDI).
“These amendments will enhance the delivery and quality of sub-sector services to be comparable with other countries.
“It also encourages healthy competition and increase opportunities for our experts to venture into new markets abroad,” he said when tabling the bills in parliament yesterday.
Amendments of the three bill were approved after they were tabled for third reading by Fadillah. — Bernama
The amendments were supposed to be tabled in 2012 but were postponed to gather feedback after protests by some parties.
On fear that open competition will impact local professionals, he said the amendments guarantee opportunities for local professionals and public interest. “For starter, only 30 per cent equity is open to foreigners and will be expanded up to 100 percent if necessary.
“We open a little so that foreign professionals can practice in Malaysia with several conditions, including after interview and examination to determine they qualify and understand local practices,” he added. – Bernama