KUALA LUMPUR: Kuwait Finance House (M) Bhd expects its newly launched Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) Hijrah-i service programme to attract commendable participation from foreigners.

Managing director K.Salman Younis said the bank has received encouraging enquiries for the programme particularly from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Pakistan, India, South Korea and Japan.

"No sales target has been set but we will promote this programme aggressively by capitalising on Kuwait Finance's strong global network and its international branches," he told reporters after the official launch by Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansur on Tuesday.

Kuwait Finance is the first foreign bank in Malaysia to introduce the MM2H, which was the Malaysian government's initiative that allows foreign nationals to live in Malaysia for an extended period of time.

MM2H offers a 10-year multi-entry renewable visa that allows them to reside as well as invest and capitalise on Malaysia's booming economy.

Under Kuwait Finance's MM2H programme, Salman said customers would have full access to banking and financial facilities during their stay in Malaysia.

In addition, accommodation, healthcare, education, leisure, insurance and travel requirements will be packaged into the programme.

"We also render assistance to participants in expediting the process of obtaining their visa," Salman added.

Earlier, Tengku Adnan said about 1,728 participants were accepted into MM2H programme last year.

He said Malaysia was a choice destination to foreigners looking for long-stay programmes in the region.

Apart from popular destinations like Spain, Mexico and Turkey, Tengku Adnan said Malaysia faced competitions from Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines for similar long-stay programmes.

He said both new MM2H overseas participants and existing foreigners residing in Malaysia should take advantage of the attractive MM2H programme due to the country's general low cost of living but high quality lifestyle.

Source: TheStar

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