Network School founder says immigration probe at tech commune is a risk to Malaysia’s tech ambitions
Balaji Srinivasan, former C.T.O. of Coinbase speaks during the SALT conference in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., September 14, 2022. REUTERS/David ‘Dee’ Delgado
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KUALA LUMPUR, July 17 : U.S. investor Balaji Srinivasan said an immigration check at a “digital nomad” community in Malaysia based on anonymous social media claims of law violations that proved unfounded could be a risk to Malaysia’s plans to be a global tech hub.
On Wednesday, the Immigration Department said its inspections had found that members of the Network School had valid travel documents, a day after authorities announced a probe into online claims that Israelis were among them in violation of local laws.
“Should the global tech community continue investing in Malaysia?” Srinivasan, a former Coinbase chief technology officer who founded the Network School, said in a social media post late on Thursday.
He said his experience would be of interest to “executives at Google, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft, founders of tech unicorns like Coinbase and Solana, and investors at the world’s largest venture capital funds”.
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Srinivasan said his further planned investments in the country were on hold until he received assurances the episode would not be repeated, and asked for a meeting with the prime minister’s office.
Reuters has sought comment from the prime minister’s office on Srinivasan’s post.
Srinivasan said false claims of harbouring illegal aliens made by an anonymous social media account sparked a visit days later by authorities, who he said checked hundreds of passports of people, including dual passport holders, and found all were in order.
The Immigration Department said on Wednesday that its inspection of 266 foreigners found they had valid documents, though further compliance checks were ongoing.
Srinivasan said that while the immigration officials were polite and professional, “the process is the punishment”.
Muslim-majority Malaysia, a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause, does not have diplomatic relations with Israel. Malaysia does not have specific laws barring Israelis from traveling on second-country passports.
In 2024, Malaysia launched a roadmap to become a global tech startup hub, including attractive visa programmes for foreign talent and investors, and initiatives to ease business setup and attract venture capital. That ambition has been reinforced by a data centre investment boom in Johor, the Malaysian state where the Network School is based and which has become Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing data centre hub.
Source: Reuters
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