The Ministry of Investment, Trade & Industry (MITI) welcomes today’s announcement by Prime Minister, YAB Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, on streamlined investment promotion functions, Strategic Investor Pass (SIP) and the Digital Nomad Professional Visit Pass to improve the ease of doing business and facilitate both Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Domestic Direct Investment (DDI) in Malaysia.
In terms of streamlining the functions of the current 31 Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs), MITI has been tasked to take the lead in reducing duplicative and overlapping roles and responsibilities among IPAs, while also addressing the various pain points along the investor journey. This will strengthen, among others, the handholding and post-investment care of investors, with a focus on efficiently realising approved FDI and DDI within the shortest possible timeframe.
The Government will also proactively issue the Strategic Investor Pass (SIP) that enables entry into Malaysia on a multiple-entry basis for approved investors. This incentive will be facilitated by MIDA to enable strategic investors to remain in the country for a minimum of five (5) years, with a possible subsequent 5-year renewal.
Further, to help address critical higher-skill and professional industrial talent shortage, the Government will extend the scope of the Digital Nomad Professional Visit Pass to cover manufacturing-related skillsets. Through this enabler, eligible professionals such as E&E IC designers can move to Malaysia on a freelance basis for up to two (2) years.
Minister of Investment, Trade & Industry, YB Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Aziz said, “These three key enablers are very crucial to support Malaysia’s investment and industrial ecosystem, enabling us to strategically capitalize on the redesigning of global supply chains that has seen many MNCs eyeing ASEAN as a re-shoring or friend-shoring destination to better secure of their production lines. These immediate term measures also complement the strategic measures that MITI is currently finalizing under the New Industrial Master Plan 2030, that is set to transform the very core of our manufacturing industry and to help position Malaysia as a viable, cost-efficient gateway to the Southeast Asian and Asian markets.”