PUTRAJAYA: The Government will launch the Expatriate Services Division in the first quarter of next year as part of rebranding and advancing the Immigration Department, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced today.
He said the division would be rolled out in phases to provide integrated and seamless services, with a system and infrastructure upgrade, process streamlining and customer-centric facilitation and services.
“We’ve formed a joint working committee headed by Home Minister (Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein), Immigration Department and Talent Corp to coordinate with the relevant agencies to develop further innovation in the immigration policy and services,” he told a meeting with eminent expatriate corporate leaders at the Prime Minister’s Office here today.
Najib also personally offered Residence Pass-Talent (RP-T) status to 21 corporate leaders, foreign investors and experts in their respective fields.
They represent leading corporations in the National Key Economic Areas sectors such as business services, oil and gas, financial services and education.
The RP-T, issued personal-to-holder, enables foreign talents to live and work in Malaysia for up to 10 years and is renewable.
“Today, we’re going to do something which we have not done before in the past. You have come to the government but we decided we are going to you.
“I would like to thank you for having the confidence in Malaysia and I hope you will become real partners to drive Malaysia’s economy forward.
Najib said the RP-T was not like a year-to-year pass application allowing foreign talents working here together with their spouse and kids with some sense of permanence.
Earlier, Najib said developing talents was one of the underpinning sectors that would be a key determinant in the government’s ability to achieve national vision and to become a very competitive nation. “I believe while the government nurtures local talents and try to keep them in Malaysia, global talents must find their place in Malaysia and complement local talents.
“You actually create a buoyant economy and a more dynamic economy because talents will actually unleash the capacity of the economy to grow.
“That is why we believe in maintaining Malaysia’s very open economy and that includes a new look at how we treat talents, including foreign talents,” he said.
To date, more than 1,000 RP-T pass have been approved, Najib said, adding that the RP-T was implemented in April 2011, four months after it was announced in December 2010.– BERNAMA