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.
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