Trade bodies up in arms over online renewal

KUALA LUMPUR: The Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM), together with over 30 trade chambers and organisations, wants the online renewal of foreign workers permit via MY E.G. Services Bhd (MyEG) to be made available as an option and not compulsory.
The business communities also called for the mandatory use of the Foreign Workers Centralised Management System (FWCMS) by Bestinet Sdn Bhd to be suspended with immediate effect.
ACCCIM deputy secretary-general Tan Sri Teo Chiang Kok warned that the mandatory renewals via MyEG and Bestinet would translate to higher price of products and services.
"Of course we would have to (increase prices). Anything that impacts on the cost of operations and cost of production will be inputted with the selling price, that is natural," he said at a joint media conference by ACCCIM and over 30 chambers and trade organisations here yesterday.
The online renewal of foreign workers permit using MyEG will see costs escalating to RM163, made up of RM38 service fee for online renewal announced earlier this month and the RM125 processing fee per worker payable to the government. The processing fee is has more than doubled from the RM50 employers were paying in September 2014.
The visa-processing fee for foreign workers has increased to RM250 since its implementation in December last year from just RM15 under the FWCMS that the government has outsourced to Bestinet.
On top of this, employers also have to pay RM1,250 in annual levy per worker to the government.
Teo said the increased cost will impact the construction, plantation and services sectors and may even lead to disruption in operations should the issue of foreign workers employments prolong.
"We encourage the usage of the online system but it has to be more efficient, cost effective and transparent."
Malaysian Plastics Manufacturers Association president Lim Kok Boon said the perception of employing foreign worker in preference to local worker is not true as it is necessary to hire foreign workers due to the acute shortage of local workers.
"The costs of levy, (medical examination with) Fomema (foreign workers medical screening agency), insurance, transport, MyEG and Bestinet (have made) the cost of employing foreign workers higher than employing local workers."
Lim said this would also impact the economy as the unit cost of products produced in this country will go up and consumers will feel the pinch.
"If costs go up too much and too harsh, products will be no longer be competitive in the international market and companies will have no business. The ramification is far reaching and wide," said Lim.
The Malaysian Textile Manufacturers Association president Datuk Seri Tan Thian Poh said the MyEG online system mandatory, will set a bad precedence.
"It's not just the costs. Now we have problem getting workers. Due to the weakening of the ringgit, our country is becoming less attractive to a lot of foreign workers. The business community finds it more and more difficult to attract foreign workers to work for us," said Tan.