KUALA LUMPUR: The Senate's Special Select Committee on Social and Community Affairs (JKPK HESM) has urged the government to expedite the formulation of the Anti-Ali Baba Act to tackle the growing issue of foreigners' dominance in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The committee chairman, Senator Datuk Dr Mohd Hatta Md Ramli, said that the activities of foreign nationals monopolising SMEs have hurt economic opportunities for locals, adding that prompt improvements must be implemented.
"People have complained that our businesses (owned by locals) are being taken over by foreigners who should not be allowed to run businesses.
"Therefore, we need to ensure that the relevant ministries, perhaps the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living or the Attorney General's Chambers, draft the Bill as soon as possible," he told reporters at the Parliament Building today, where he presented the committee's report on the dominance of foreign nationals in the SME sector.
Dr Mohd Hatta said the report is based on the committee's findings from several proceedings involving witnesses and field visits, including a joint operation to check foreign business activities in Kuala Lumpur north on July 1.
"Through the proceedings and field visits, the findings of the JKPK HESM are that local authorities lack the power to carry out the process to identify foreign workers who do not have complete documentation. Additionally, it was found that the modus operandi of foreign nationals is becoming increasingly sophisticated and frequently changes, making it more difficult for enforcement agencies to detect," he said.
He said that enforcement agencies and departments are facing a shortage of manpower, finances, and logistics to effectively carry out operations and enforcement to check businesses registered to locals but were handed over, leased, or rented to foreigners.
In addition to the Anti-Ali Baba Act, Dr Mohd Hatta said that the JKPK HESM also made several recommendations, including urging the government to review existing laws so that the power to inspect, investigate, and arrest foreigners be integrated and delegated to enforcement agencies, with the Immigration Department acting as the coordinator.
Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli reportedly said that the government was conducting a study to establish the legal framework for the Anti-Ali Baba Act. -- BERNAMA