Three industry sectors allowed to hire foreign workers from 15 countries

KUALA LUMPUR: Three industries - construction, manufacturing and service - would be allowed to hire foreign workers from all 15 source countries.

Both the Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin and Human Resource Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan, in a joint press conference at Bukit Aman on Monday (July 18), said that this was agreed upon after a meeting earlier.

“We also agreed on looking at the appropriateness of allowing foreign workers in all sectors including the frozen sub-sectors.

“I would also like to remind everyone that the government will ensure the management of foreign workers here will be based on the laws of our country and at the same time, ensure that all foreign workers will have their rights protected,” they said in a joint statement.

The Home Ministry's website lists the 15 countries as India, Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Philippines, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Indonesia and Kazakhstan.

"Among other things, we also agreed to allow foreign workers from all 15 source countries to work in the manufacturing, construction and services sectors.

"We also agreed on looking at the appropriateness of allowing foreign workers in all sectors, including the sub-sectors that have been frozen," he said.

Apart from that, he said based on a study conducted by the Institute of Labor Market Information and Analysis (ILMIA), the meeting had agreed to allow low-skilled foreign labour in the port warehouse sub-sector.

He said, however, control elements were still required to ensure that the decision did not affect employment opportunities for locals, adding that the employment of foreigners in the sub-sector would be regulated by the Transport Ministry.