The government plans to accord permanent resident (PR) status to foreign spouses of Malaysian citizens who are abroad, to return to serve Malaysia.

    

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the effort was among incentives introduced by the government to ensure that Malaysia achieve its goal of becoming a high-income nation by 2020.

He said the government was more open and flexible now, in giving the PR status and the move was not only for those who had professional skill or background, but others, as well.

"In order to accord them with permanent resident status, they must be qualified and have skills to help in nation-building.

"They must also have 'ingredients' that Malaysia wants," he said, when responding to a question at a dinner hosted by him for Malaysian students and the community in Boston on Wednesday.

Also present were his wife, Norainee Abdul Rahman, and the Malaysian Consulate-General in New York, Mohd Zamruni Khalid.

The deputy prime minister is in the United States for a six-day working visit to Boston and Washington DC.

Muhyiddin said the government was also flexible in according PR status to foreign professionals so that they could contribute in developing the country.

"Recently, the government offered PR status to a few top foreign chief executive officers. They were surprised to get an offer from the prime minister (Najib Tun Razak)," he noted.

To another question, the deputy prime minister said the government was providing a host of incentives to attract Malaysian professionals abroad to return and serve the country.

Talent Corporation

He said the setting up of Talent Corporation, which was announced by the prime minister when tabling the 2011 Budget last year, was to expedite the process of bringing back over 70,000 Malaysians from abroad.

Meanwhile in his speech, Muhyiddin said Malaysia was moving in the right direction and needed the support of its citizens to help the government transform the country into a developed and prosperous nation.

For talented Malaysians living in the United States, he hoped they would return to Malaysia to contribute to the country's further development.

He said that being a responsible government was not only about keeping destabilising forces in society at bay, but also the willingness to listen to the wishes of the people and fulfill them.

"In a nutshell, political stability is hard to maintain if the government refuses to feel the pulse of the people," added Muhyiddin.

- Bernama