AIRLINK 62.48 Increased By ▲ 2.05 (3.39%)
BOP 5.36 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.19%)
CNERGY 4.58 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-0.43%)
DFML 15.50 Increased By ▲ 0.66 (4.45%)
DGKC 66.40 Increased By ▲ 1.60 (2.47%)
FCCL 17.59 Increased By ▲ 0.73 (4.33%)
FFBL 27.70 Increased By ▲ 2.95 (11.92%)
FFL 9.27 Increased By ▲ 0.21 (2.32%)
GGL 10.06 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (1%)
HBL 105.70 Increased By ▲ 1.49 (1.43%)
HUBC 122.30 Increased By ▲ 4.78 (4.07%)
HUMNL 6.60 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.92%)
KEL 4.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-1.1%)
KOSM 4.48 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-1.97%)
MLCF 36.20 Increased By ▲ 0.79 (2.23%)
OGDC 122.92 Increased By ▲ 0.53 (0.43%)
PAEL 23.00 Increased By ▲ 1.09 (4.97%)
PIAA 29.34 Increased By ▲ 2.05 (7.51%)
PIBTL 5.80 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-2.36%)
PPL 107.50 Increased By ▲ 0.13 (0.12%)
PRL 27.25 Increased By ▲ 0.74 (2.79%)
PTC 18.07 Increased By ▲ 1.97 (12.24%)
SEARL 53.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.63 (-1.17%)
SNGP 63.21 Increased By ▲ 2.01 (3.28%)
SSGC 10.80 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.47%)
TELE 9.20 Increased By ▲ 0.71 (8.36%)
TPLP 11.44 Increased By ▲ 0.86 (8.13%)
TRG 70.86 Increased By ▲ 0.95 (1.36%)
UNITY 23.62 Increased By ▲ 0.11 (0.47%)
WTL 1.28 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
BR100 6,944 Increased By 65.8 (0.96%)
BR30 22,827 Increased By 258.6 (1.15%)
KSE100 67,142 Increased By 594.3 (0.89%)
KSE30 22,090 Increased By 175.1 (0.8%)

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia said Monday it will allow Indian restaurants and businesses to recruit 45,000 foreign workers, mainly from India, to help fill a shortage that is crippling their activities.

Human Resources minister S. Subramaniam said a dearth of foreign workers has meant that some of the nation's Indian eateries have had to virtually close as locals refused to take up jobs.

"Indian businesses had asked for 90,000 foreign workers to man the restaurants and businesses and after discussions, the government has agreed to allow the entry of 45,000 foreign workers, mainly from India," he told AFP.

K.K. Eswaran, president of the Malaysian Associated Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MAICCI) which lobbied for the workers, said the foreigners would work in 13 small-scale Indian business sectors in the country.

"Indian businesses, not only the restaurants, are facing a major labour shortage and these include barbers and newspaper vendors as many Malaysians are unwilling to do these jobs," he said.

"So if we did not get the additional help, most people would not be able to get their newspapers on their doorsteps in the morning," he added.

Eswaran said that a special government taskforce would work with MAICCI to determine how to distribute the workers across the various sectors.

Labour officials say that there are more than 100,000 Indian workers in Malaysia, forming the third-largest foreign workforce in the country. Most of them are hired by restaurants, plantations and the textile industry.

Malaysia is one of Asia's largest importers of labour and relies heavily on foreigners to perform low-level work in its agriculture and manufacturing industries, and in other low-paying jobs.

However, the government has been under pressure to cut the migrant workforce which is blamed for suppressing wages for Malaysians.

About 60 percent of Malaysia's 28 million people are ethnic Malay Muslims while the rest are mostly ethnic Chinese and Indians who are largely Buddhist, Hindu, or Christian.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011

Comments

Comments are closed.