ESD fresh application

Nothing much to  do than wait the outcome. I suspect there may be issues  as your Japanese partner will be seen possibly as just an investor and you can run the company.

Did you check if the business area of the company is a permitted sector for foreign owners? There are a lot of restrictions. I also thought joint ventures could not be 50/50 ownership.

The change of government has slowed everything down

Thanks a lot for your time, really grateful for the speedy response.
I have been to the ESD office in Putrajaya several times. As we are an engineering specialised in water and wastewater treatment, and my Japanese partner is the key technology man (he worked in Malaysia before and have competed several Municipal Sewage Treatment Plants during his tenure here). Thus the category we are in is OK.
For JV company, there is only restriction on foreign equity of 30 % minimum, upper limit is not mentioned and I think we have cleared that too.
The officer at the counter informed that a visit is required to complete the application evaluation, unfortunately no date and time for the visit ca n be given.
We are stuck at this juncture, no recruitment can be made and having hard time to explain to potential customers about our problem with ESD. Couldn't move much without a valid work permit for my partner.

I didn't think ESD are responsible for the visit but it's under SSM and the local Council.

http://malaysiabizadvisory.com/types-of … permitted/

This is the list of sectors not permitted for foreigners