FMM In The News: THE STAR, KUALA LUMPUR, March 11, 2024 -  The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) intends to appeal against the government’s decision to bring forward the last date for foreign workers to enter the country to May 31, instead of Sept 30. 

On top of that, the government has also imposed a deadline for employers with hiring quotas to obtain visas with reference (VDRs) by the end of the month, or their quotas will be cancelled. 

FMM president Tan Sri Soh Thian Lai said the government’s latest decision would hurt export orders and economic growth. He commented that the flip-flopping in policy decisions will not help the local business community, and it will dampen the confidence of foreign investors in Malaysia. 

“We still would like to appeal to the government to reconsider until the end of September. They cannot flip-flop on the decision. Stay with it,” Soh told reporters after the briefing on the FMM Business Conditions Survey for the second half of 2023.

Soh pointed out it is important for the government to engage with stakeholders and business manufacturers along the decision-making process. 

He commented that the government should stick to the original deadline of Sept 30, instead of bringing it forward to May 31. 

In short, employers who have been granted quotas to bring foreign workers will have to make sure that their foreign workers are granted VDRs by March 31, and they need to enter the country by May 31, which is less than three months from now. 

The VDR is a visa issued by the Malaysian Representative Office abroad to a non-citizen to enable the individual to enter Malaysia after the visa is approved by the Immigration Department headquarters.

Any unused quota will be cancelled, according to the Home Ministry. 

“We do not want the government to confuse the industry. Please make your decision with 3C — clarity, consistency and certainty. What we want is to set up the right policy for the industry. 

“Is it too much [of a] request from the industry? How can we grow the confidence of foreign investors if you change the policy [often]? They will feel uneasy,” said Soh. 

He highlighted that manufacturers will not have sufficient time to meet the earlier deadline of May 31 as a result of the unexpected sudden change in policy decisions. On average, it takes about four months for manufacturers to bring in new foreign workers. 

“The government said the visa application took two days. That is for recalibration, for foreign workers who are already in Malaysia. 

[As for foreign workers in their source countries], we need 2.5 months to get the VDRs, while to bring the workers in, we need another one or two months. [It takes] at least four months for the whole process.

“We need to interview the workers, get the right candidates, need [them] to go to the medical check-ups and et cetera, so for the whole process, we cannot complete it within one month,” Soh explained. 

According to him, the country will be facing a shortage of roughly 80,000 foreign workers, given that the government will cancel the unused quotas. 

Last Friday, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the decisions to cancel active worker quotas without VDRs after March 31, and to bring forward the last date for foreign workers to enter the country to May 31, were made jointly with the Ministry of Human Resources.

Saifuddin said this would enable the government to accurately measure the need for foreign manpower in the country, before considering the need to open up new quotas for the intake of more foreign workers.