SULTAN Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar has called on Putrajaya to improve the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme to attract more foreigners to invest in the country. 

Following an audience with Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Tiong King Sing, the Johor ruler said the government would need to refine the policy, incentives and benefits to ensure they are not burdensome to applicants. 

“The improvement is important in making Malaysia one of the top destinations,” Sultan Ibrahim said in a statement today. 

The audience with Sultan Ibrahim, which was also attended by Johor tourism, environment, heritage and culture committee chairman K Raven Kumar and a member of the Yayasan Sultanah Fatimah board of directors, Tan Seng Leon, went on for almost two hours. 

After the audience, Tiong said Sultan Ibrahim shared various ideas and perspectives on improving the MM2H programme.

“His Majesty provided various outstanding ideas and I’m confident they can be implemented to enhance our tourism sector,” said Tiong.

“I will discuss His Majesty’s insights and advice to improve the MM2H programme with the Home Ministry and industry players.”

He added that the outcome of these discussions would be presented to the cabinet next month.

Earlier it was reported that the MM2H programme saw a 90% drop in the number of applicants because of the tougher conditions imposed.

New conditions were introduced in 2021 to the MM2H programme, which is aimed at attracting long-term foreign residents, after a freeze during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The new conditions raised the qualification level by more than three times.

Applicants are now required to have permanent savings of at least RM1 million and liquid assets of at least RM1.5 million. They must now also prove they have an offshore income of at least RM40,000 a month, up from RM10,000. –  July 6, 2023.