Ramon: Time for Malaysia to cut dependence on cheap foreign labour

Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s economy is having a cold now, but it can turn into full-blown pneumonia if the country does not wean itself off its dependence on foreign workers, said prominent Malaysian economist Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam.  

Starting this year, the Government made new rulings under the Employer Mandatory Commitment (EMC), which dictates that companies be the ones to pay the levies for the foreign labour they bring in.