Vinodh Mariappa

In my role, I provide comprehensive secretarial services to multiple investment committees, including the National Committee on Investment (NCI), the Special Technical Committee on Duty Exemption for Iron and Steel Materials, and others focused on import duty exemptions and grant disbursements. I ensure efficient coordination of all approvals and decision letters issued by these committees. Additionally, I take the initiative to update procedures related to manufacturing licenses, incentives, expatriate posts, and duty exemptions regarding import duties and sales tax. My responsibilities also involve preparing for Investment Committee Meetings (ICM) and facilitating the pre-ICM Technical Committee's discussions, ensuring that all documents are meticulously organized and readily available for effective decision-making.

Incentive Coordination and Collaboration Office (ICCO) is a dedicated unit. The division streamlines investment incentives, acts as a one-stop advisory hub for businesses, and operates the i-Incentives Portal.Roles within the ICCO division generally involve high-level policy advocacy, data analysis, and cross-agency coordination:Incentive Tracking: Managing, maintaining, and updating the federal i-Incentives Portal to track incentives across all government ministries and agencies.Cross-Agency Coordination: Acting as a central liaison to advise local and foreign investors, ministries, and state agencies on government tax and non-tax incentives.Policy Gap Analysis: Evaluating incentive performance and identifying gaps in the national investment ecosystem to provide visibility for monitoring authorities.Stakeholder Engagement: Facilitating roundtable meetings, webinars, and policy dialogues with various investment promotion agencies and industry associations.Reporting: Assisting in preparing investment-related proposals for the Annual Budget, parliamentary questions, and high-level council Meetings

facilitates investors' human capital needs. They bridge industry-academia skills gaps, strategize talent development, evaluate expatriate employment applications, and issue critical support letters for Employment Passes in the manufacturing and selected services

Evaluates and processes applications for import duty and sales tax exemptions. It issues MIDA Confirmation Letters (SPM) that allow businesses to claim tax relief on raw materials, machinery, and equipment from the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (RMCD)

played a crucial role in driving Malaysia’s industrial transformation by evaluating targeted manufacturing projects, assessing tax incentives, and promoting foreign and domestic direct

Focused on navigating foreign direct investment (FDI) challenges caused by the global economic crisis. The division was heavily involved in managing regional investment policies, notably leading Malaysia's involvement in the ASEAN Coordination Committee on Investment (CCI) and the APEC Investment Expert Group meetings

Established and developed strong relationships with foreign stakeholders from various continents (i.e. USA, Australia, Europe, India, China) to enable the collaborative progression of investment outcomes Maintained and build effective relationships with other related agencies and statutory bodies of ASEAN countries such as EDB in Singapore, Indonesia, Myanmar & Brunei The AIA Council is the Ministerial body under the ASEAN Economic Ministers responsible for overseeing the implementation of the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA), ASEAN’s main economic instrument to realise a free and open investment regime. Represented Malaysia/ASEAN for the 9th AIA COUNCIL and 38th AEM Meeting Malaysia and Japan established the Malaysia–Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (MJEPA) on 13 December 2005. Represented Malaysia as part of the investment section team. Malaysia and India established the Malaysia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (MICECA). Represented Malaysia as part of the investment section team. Other Regional and Multilateral Agreements.