Facilitating Ease of Doing Business in Malaysia

The Sun, 30 January, 2008.

WHEN Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, proposed the setting up of a high-powered committee to examine ways to enhance the public service delivery system, the nay-sayers were aplenty – and loud.

One could not blame them as the public have for far too long been on the receiving end of

bureaucratic red tape and inefficient government front-liners.

With apathetic civil servants and regulations that did not make sense, there was the general consensus that this was just another public relations exercise in futility.

However since Feb 7 last year, when the prime minister announced the setting up of Pemudah, the Special Task Force to Facilitate Business, the masses have got to see for themselves that things were different this time around.

As its longer title suggests, Pemudah's primary aim is to make it easier to do business in this country but the inevitable spin-off is improved counter services and the trimming down of waiting time.

The advertisement that appears on the next page – and the ones that have appeared in this paper since Monday is the government's commitment to the public that it is serious in improving the civil service. In short, it is the executive putting its money where its mouth is.

“Feb 7 will always be a special day for all of us. It was a day we all decided to make a big difference,” said Westport executive chairman Tan Sri G. Gnanalingam – one of the of 23 top-level public and private sector representatives, who make up Pemudah.

“As we look back over the progress we had achieved within a relatively short period, there is much to cheer,” he added, alluding to some of Pemudah's successes which include speeding up income tax returns from 30 days to two weeks; expediting work pass approvals for expatriates and the registration of new business from three days to an hour.

These initiatives were the government's immediate responses to what was perceived as Malaysia 's decline in its competitiveness. A less than favourable report by the World Bank also spurred Abdullah and like-minded officials such as Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan who co-chairs Pemudah, to make a stand that enough was enough and that Malaysia should not continue to wallow in mediocrity.

The involvement of the private sector in Pemudah is pertinent to addressing this issue of decline in competitiveness as they not only draw attention to problems that need to be addressed, but more importantly, contribute meaningfully towards decision-making and solutions through dialogues with their public sector counterparts.

Having identified that the problems are not just policies but also the lax implementation process, Pemudah set out to tackle the core of the matter – good governance, which has a bearing towards enhancing our competitiveness globally.

Mohd Sidek and the Director-General of the Public Service, Tan Sri Ismail Adam, have started to put in place initiatives – both punitive and incentive-driven – to get the public machinery working, which in turn translates into attracting foreign direct investment.

For foreign investors, the more significant changes are the review of immigration rules and policies that hamper the government's plans to make Malaysia more

expat-friendly. In spite of the negative press – at most times unfairly – that foreign workers are subject to, it must be accepted that Malaysia 's human resource cannot provide for such skills for the time being.

This led to the inception of the Immigration Department's Expatriate Committee which from June 1 last year has been processing all applications for expatriate posts within seven days and meets twice a week to speed up approvals.

The tenure of expatriate posts has also been increased to five years from two years previously and the endorsement of related work passes for expatriates has also been shortened to three days. Even state immigration offices now have executive counters to deal with all executive level personnel.

To avoid confusion and improve transparency, Pemudah has also published a guidebook for the employment of expatriates in collaboration with the Implementation Coordination Unit, Ministry of Home Affairs, the Immigration Department and other related agencies like the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (Mida), Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), Securities Commission, Bank Negara Malaysia and Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation.

The guidebook is aimed at providing a consolidated source of information to investors and employers on matters related to expatriate employment in Malaysia .

It is the first publication which brings together relevant information from the various agencies involved in the approval of expatriate posts and endorsement of employment passes. Additionally, the guidebook includes the process flow chart to help expatriates navigate the processes involved, covering expatriate posts for manufacturing and manufacturing-related services; information technology; finance, insurance and banking; securities and futures market; and the education, health, tourism, civil aviation services, and sports sectors.