JOHOR BARU: The conditions for the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme, which are set to be eased, should just be reset to what they were before, says Johor housing and local government committee chairman Datuk Mohd Jafni Md Shukor.
He said the state welcomed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s announcement on easing conditions for the MM2H programme that would make Malaysia more investor friendly.
“The Johor government has been voicing out its concern over the present strict conditions of MM2H for a long time as it has not put the state and country in favour with foreign investors.
“Thailand and the Philippines have similar programmes but the rules they implement are not too strict for foreigners wanting to buy property there, unlike Malaysia,” he said when contacted here yesterday.
Mohd Jafni urged Putrajaya to revert to the MM2H conditions before 2018.
“The rules back then made it easier for foreign investors to buy property here,” he said.
Mohd Jafni also said presently, the state property sector was showing positive signs of recovery where it recorded a 17% increase in sales during the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year.
“With the good working relationship that the state has with the Federal Government to ease congestion at the two checkpoints here as well as the Johor fast lane programme that makes it easier for foreign investments, easing the MM2H conditions will make Johor more attractive for foreign investors,” he said.
During the tabling of Budget 2024 last Friday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the government has agreed to ease the existing conditions for the application of MM2H to increase the arrival of tourists and foreign investors to Malaysia.
On Aug 11, 2021, the previous government administration reactivated the MM2H with nine new conditions after it was suspended for about a year in view of the global Covid-19 pandemic.
The new conditions require participants to be in the country for at least 90 cumulative days in a year and have an offshore income of at least RM40,000 a month, compared to RM10,000 previously.
They must also have a fixed deposit account of at least RM1mil, with 50% maximum withdrawal allowed for the purpose of buying property or spending on health and children’s education.
Previously, there was no minimum stay requirement for participants who only needed to place RM300,000 in fixed deposits while for those over 50, the amount was RM150,000.
Besides that, there is a processing fee of between RM2,500 and RM5,000 which was not imposed previously.
