Monday February 28, 2011
A. LETCHUMANAN letchu@thestar.com.my
KUALA LUMPUR: The Government has approved the intake of 45,000 foreigners for the Indian business community. They will be placed in 13 sectors, including restaurants, provision shops, goldsmiths and textile shops.
Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said the approval was given after considering the plight of businessmen in these sectors, which was raised in a memorandum submitted by the Malaysian Associated Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MAICCI) to the Prime Minister.
A task force in his ministry would determine the number of foreign workers that could be provided for the various sectors, Dr Subra-maniam said at the opening of the Malaysian Indian Restaurant Owners Association (Primas) building by former MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu here yesterday.
Dr Subramaniam said that to prevent abuse, MAICCI would co-ordinate the recruitment.
He also advised MAICCI to consider training local workers as the business sector cannot continue to depend on workers from India.
India, he said, was developing fast and its workers could be difficult to source later.
On a related matter, Dr Subramaniam said the Government had asked employers with foreign and illegal workers to register with the trade associations before December.
“We had expected about 10,000 but only about 2,000 illegals were registered. We don’t know why,” he said.