PM Najib Announces Policies To Attract And Retain Talent

The policy initiatives approved by the Government are as follows:

• To support the human capital requirements under the Economic Transformation Program (ETP), selected students under the Public Service Department scholarship program will be able to serve their bond of service with a broader range of organizations, including Government-linked companies and private sector corporations in Malaysia. The detailed mechanism will be developed by the Government next year.
• A Resident Pass will be introduced. This will be offered to highly-qualified expatriates who wish to reside and work in Malaysia. In contrast to the Employment Pass, the Resident Pass will be issued for a longer tenure and will not be tied to a specific employer. Additionally, the Resident Pass will also be offered to Malaysian diaspora and their offspring, who no longer hold Malaysian citizenship. The Immigration Department is expected to implement the Resident Pass by 1st April 2011 or earlier.
• Employment pass conditions will be relaxed. The requirements for an understudy, the need to advertise the executive position and the 10-year limit for key expatriate executive positions will be removed. The changes will take effect in 2011.

The above immigration policies are in addition to various improvements by the Ministry of Home Affairs, such as the point system for Permanent Resident (PR), which was fully implemented in July 2010.

Talent Corporation will collaborate closely with relevant agencies to coordinate the implementation of the talent related policies announced today. Talent Corporation will be operational in January 2011. The company will comprise a Board of Trustees, to be chaired by the Prime Minister himself, and will initially include the following ex-officio members: YB Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, YB Dato Sri Idris Jala, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, and YBhg. Tan Sri Sidek Hassan, Chief Secretary to the Government. Johan Mahmood Merican has been selected to be the Chief Executive Officer of Talent Corporation Malaysia Berhad.

Najib said it is vital for Malaysia to recognise that the country needs to nurture and attract world- class talents to perform in world-class jobs. He said that a greater number and quality of talent was imperative to fill the 3.3 million new jobs opportunities arising from the implementation of the ETP. Najib said that therefore proactive steps were needed to attract, nurture, engage and retain the talent needed for a high income economy. Such initiatives will need to target the different sources of talent, namely Malaysians in Malaysia, Malaysian diaspora and foreigners both those abroad and those already in the country.

The findings of a talent lab was earlier today presented to the Prime Minister, relevant Ministers and senior officials.