KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6: Human Resources Development Minister V.Sivakumar said the number of foreign workers required for the traditional Indian industries such as hairdressers, textiles and jewellery shops will not be more than 30,000.
A decision will be made at a Cabinet meeting this Friday, Sept 8, on the number of foreign workers who will be given permission to fill up the posts, reported online Tamil news website Nambikkai.
Sivakumar said his ministry has been receiving regular applications from the three sectors on their need for foreign makers and was aware of the acute shortage of workers in these industries.
It will be necessary to have a detailed discussion at the cabinet level to decide on the intake number and find a solution to the issue, he told reporters after a meeting with Indian traders in Klang on Tuesday.
On Monday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced a partial lift of the ban on the intake of foreign workers on three subsectors but he had also called for the training of locals to address the shortage of workers in the sectors.
Since taking over the Human Resources portfolio, Sivakumar has been pursuing the issue of labour shortages faced by the various sectors in the country including the three Indian traditional industries.
He has had meetings with Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution and the late Minister of Domestic Trade and Costs of Living Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayob to gain approvals from the two ministries as well as dialogues with industrial bodies and business chambers towards the intake of foreign workers for the affected businesses.
— WE
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