Staff Reporter :Malaysia is lifting the ban on hiring foreign workers for four sectors, says Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, according portal newspaper paper The Star Online.The decision was taken in light of appeals from the manufacturing, construction, plantation and furniture making industries, which are facing a major shortage of workers.”In view of the acute dearth, we have to lift the suspension to allow these sectors to sign up foreign workers,” said Liow.Earlier on March 12, the Malaysian Cabinet decided to halt the recruitment of new foreign workers and thereby officially scrapped its initial plan to import 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers.Liow said that the Cabinet was already looking to improve the system for hiring foreign workers, after which they would gradually lift the hiring freeze for other sectors too.”About other sectors, we will go on a case-by-case basis, while waiting for the creation of a more foolproof, transparent and accountable system,” he said.”Workers are important for the productivity of these sectors, so if employers face too many uncertainties in hiring workers, that will not go well for the nation’s economic growth,” he said.Liow added that it would take time for the government to engage with the various industries to better understand the situations that each sector faced.However, he emphasized that it was important for the government to regulate and have proper control over the hiring of foreign workers in Malaysia.It has been reported recently that a survey by the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers showed that 84 percent of manufacturers were facing a labour shortage, with half of them claiming that they had not been able to fulfill existing orders.The survey showed 146 companies required 13,270 new workers this year to meet their business needs and replace unfit or retiring workers.Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said the illegal foreign workers’ rehiring programme must be made more transparent to assist manufacturers, who were facing a manpower shortage due to the freeze on foreign workers since February.Only 55,000 illegal have been rehired so far, out of the estimated 1.4 million. Late last month, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that a decision on the sanction on foreign labour would be announced soon.
