Bestinet denies it is foreign worker recruitment agency

KUALA LUMPUR: Bestinet Sdn Bhd, the company that runs the Foreign Workers Centralised Management System (FWCMS) for registration of foreign workers in the country — has reiterated it is only a solutions provider and not a recruitment agency.

Bestinet chief executive officer Ismail Mohd Noor said the FWCMS was an efficient platform for source countries and Malaysian employers to use to register foreign workers.

“FWCMS is an online system for foreign governments and local employers to use to register foreign workers coming into the country,” he said a recent media briefing.

At the World Summit Awards 2018 in Austria last week, the FWCMS was hailed as one of the world’s 40 best digital projects that helped to meet the United Nations’ sustainable development goals.

It was among close to 400 submissions from 180 countries.

“FWCMS is an award-winning IT (information technology) solutions provider to ease the process. We are not a recruitment agency,” Ismail added.

Ismail was responding to a recent report by an English daily that said a Bangladeshi businessman with a “Datuk Seri” title had allegedly made RM2 billion over two years by tapping links with the Home Ministry purportedly to run a human-trafficking syndicate.

The report claimed the FWCMS charged RM305 for each foreign worker who was successfully recruited.

Ismail said Bestinet only charged RM100, and not RM305, for the 12 source countries in its system.

Established in 2008, Bestinet is an IT organisation that focuses on delivering client-centric and comprehensive cross-border technology solutions, applications and infrastructure set-up for the public and private sectors.

Asked to identify shareholders of Bestinet, Ismail said while he had been the CEO since its establishment, he was not a shareholder. “All I can say is Bestinet is not linked to any politician.”

He also said the FWCMS was being used concurrently with the Immigration Department’s MyIMMS system.