By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Jan 23: Sarawak’s Foreign Worker Transformation Approach (FWTA) has garnered widespread praise from industry leaders across multiple sectors, including plantation, manufacturing, and construction, with 301 companies adopting the initiative within its first week of implementation.
A key supporter of the FWTA, Olime Janting from SD Guthrie (formerly Sime Darby Sarawak), commended the digital shift introduced by the FWTA, which has simplified administrative procedures.
“With FWTA, things are so much easier—there is no further need for manual forms or multiple trips to Bintulu or Kuching Labour Offices for applications.
Everything can be done online with document submission requiring less hassle. Moreover, help is always available if you need it with FWTA Customer Support,” he said.
Industry players have also highlighter the initiative’s positive impact on efficiency, particularly in reducing processing times and eliminating long queues and excessive paperwork.
Lim Swee Fung from Gerhana Pelangi Sdn. Bhd. emphasised the system’s transparency and speed, stating, “Things are faster and more efficient with approval requiring no physical submissions. I can now manage my application directly through FWTA without third-party involvement.”
Meanwhile, Madam May, a veteran in the spa and reflexology sector, had the same sentiment during the Kuching Industry Updates, sharing her appreciation for a more streamlined approach to managing foreign labour.
The FWTA’s implementation has been particularly beneficial to small and medium Enterprises (SMEs), which now have access to a broader range of services at the immigration and labour management unit (ILMU) integrated offices throughout Sarawak.
Business owners expressed confidence that the continued roll-out of the FWTA will lead to significant cost savings in the long run.
“Any momentary increase in cost to implement digitisation frameworks that are there to improve overall efficiency should be welcomed and treated as nominal in the bigger picture of reducing overall costs,” a spokesperson from Migratesafe said.
As one of the key initiatives under Sarawak’s Post-COVID Development Strategy 2030 (PCDS 2030) and the Sarawak Digital Economy Blueprint, FWTA aims to transform immigration and labour management while reinforcing Sarawak’s status as a prime destination for investments and talent. –DayakDaily
