AMCHAM urges Putrajaya to reconsider entry ban on foreign citizens, warns of severe impact on major investors

KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 5): The American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) says Malaysia's blanket ban on the entry of foreign citizens from 12 countries, including the United States, will severely impact the business operations of some of the largest investors in Malaysia, as it urges Putrajaya to reconsider its decision.

"The ban will affect, amongst others, expatriates with valid work permits in Malaysia such as Employment Passes and Professional Visitor Passes. Within our membership, these categories would severely impact the immediate operations of some of the country's largest investors.

"In the E&E (electrical and electronics) sector for example, a sector that contributes to the overall health of the country's economy, this blanket ban denies companies access not only to senior executives but critical technical talent that is needed to ensure Malaysian-based entities are able to meet global supply chain demands," AMCHAM said in a statement yesterday.

The chamber's chief executive officer Siobhan Das (pictured) said the ban will result in the immediate loss of millions of dollars at both the business and trade levels. "Additionally, with no details on how long this ban will be in place, it will have a long-term impact on Malaysia as a reliable place for doing business," he said.

Malaysia's uncertain business environment will cast a pall on current and future deliberations for foreign direct investments, AMCHAM said.

While the chamber said it understood the need to impose travel restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus, it said there needs to be a carefully planned approach to doing so, with clear and advance notice given to the public and business community.

This application of the ban on citizenship versus the traveller’s current location has also caused tremendous confusion within the business community as it does not have a direct correlation to the actual threat of a further spread of the Covid-19 infection, it said.

“AMCHAM urges the Government to reconsider the blanket ban and to instead focus on improving the current immigration communication and expediting processes and, to collaborate with the business community towards the common goal of a healthy and economically vibrant recovery. It is our view that Malaysia has been managing the pandemic well and there are currently sufficient controls and SOPs in place. We look forward to working together to improve where we are already,” added Das.

On Thursday, Senior Minister and Minister of Defence Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that the Malaysian Government will impose an entry ban on citizens of countries with more than 150,000 cases of Covid-19, starting next Monday (Sept 7).

Apart from the US, other countries on the list include Brazil, France, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia and the Philippines.

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