KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 28,401 business licences were revoked nationwide between 2023 and last year following enforcement operations against licensing violations, including locals renting out business licences or premises to foreigners, says Nga Kor Ming.
The Housing and Local Government Minister said the cancellations were among 100,366 enforcement actions taken during the three-year period.
He said they included 65,023 compound notices issued and 6,942 cases involving the seizure or demolition of premises.
Nga said 10,248 integrated enforcement operations were carried out nationwide in collaboration with several agencies, including the Immigration Department, police and Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry.
"Local authorities continue to take stern action, including the immediate revocation of business licences held by Malaysians found to have breached licensing conditions," he said in a parliamentary written reply dated Monday (Oct 26).
He said the measures were aimed at addressing the involvement and dominance of foreign nationals in local businesses, particularly through the use of Malaysian licence holders as proxies under the so-called "Ali Baba" practice.
"Efforts were also underway to develop a new integrated licensing system, known as PBTBiz, to curb the misuse of business licences by foreign traders," he said.
The system, being developed by the Local Government Department, will link local authority databases with the National Registration Department's myIdentity and the Companies Commission of Malaysia through the KPKTHub platform.
"The real-time integration will enable automatic cross-checking of business ownership and applicants' citizenship status to prevent foreign traders from using Malaysian proxies to operate businesses," Nga added.
He said PBTBiz was expected to be completed by the third quarter of next year.
He added that the initiative was part of the government's efforts to accelerate digital transformation and improve public service delivery under the Mid-Term Review of the 12th Malaysia Plan.
Datuk Rosol Wahid (PN-Hulu Terengganu) wanted to know how many business owners had faced action since 2023 for renting licences or premises to foreigners.
