MELAKA: The investor-friendly concept adopted by the state government has been enhanced further with the appointment of 29 departments and agencies under the Melaka Industrial Booster (MIB) secretariat which serves as the facilitator for investors in the state.
Investment, Industry and Technical & Vocational Education Training deputy committee chairman Datuk Khaidhirah Abu Zahar said the appointments were to ensure there is no confusion among investors due to contradictory communications or directives between them.
“Today, we specifically appoint 29 departments and agencies which are previously also the backbone for application matters required by investors who want to invest in the state and Melaka Invest acts as the coordinator so that they don’t work in silos and we will add on according to the investor’s needs.
“Hence, we can avoid conflicting directives and be able to expedite and facilitate the investors’ business matters. This is an aspiration of the state government which wants to make Melaka an investor-friendly state which will benefit not only the state but more importantly can be enjoyed by the people,“ she said.
She told reporters this after attending a briefing on the pre-negotiation of projects for Melaka Invest and the appointment of the MIB Secretariat at the Melaka International Trade Centre in Ayer Keroh here, today. Also present was Melaka Invest chief executive officer Ginie Lim Siew Lin.
Among the agencies and departments appointed under the MIB Secretariat are local authorities, the Public Works Department and related agencies and technical departments.
She said the MIB, announced last year, is an initiative by the state government to facilitate and shorten the transaction period for investors in the state by applying regulatory delivery transformation for approvals for planning, earthworks, roads and drainage, building works, and temporary permits.
This is a new fast-lane process for the advancement of the industry category involving the issue of building permits, from the development process, building approval, certificate of completion and compliance up to operation licence.
Elaborating further, Khaidhirah said the secretariat will also ensure that there is no leakage or delay in the process due to misunderstandings as all agencies are placed under one umbrella.
“Since the launch with MPHTJ as the pilot project, we have started to receive applications and we believe the process delays at the pre-project stage were largely due to waiting for responses or replies between departments and sometimes there are overlapping decisions, hence, the confusion among investors.
“Insya Allah, this matter could be avoided as we know the 29 departments and agencies have their interests to take care of. Hence, if they sit together, we can have a better resolution if there are issues,“ she said. - Bernama
