MAICCI wants end to foreign labour freeze on some sectors

The Malaysian Associated Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MAICCI) wants the government to unfreeze its restrictions of foreign workers in certain sub-sectors, especially those linked to Indian businesses.

Its president N Gobalakrishnan said these include goldsmiths, steel and metal workers, barbers, and those who work in textiles or sundry shops.

"We hope the government can give some leniency in several sectors where the intake of foreign labour has been frozen," he said at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur last night.

Meanwhile, he also thanked the government for reverting to the old foreign workers' replacement scheme, which would allow employers to replace workers who have gone back to their home country, without having to make a fresh application.

The system had been suspended in 2017 by the previous government.

Gobalakrishnanan also wants the government to cut out the middlemen, and allow employers to apply for foreign workers directly with the government.

This, he said, would decrease reliance on undocumented migrant workers.