KUALA LUMPUR - The Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC) is looking forward to hiring foreign workers to be gradually switched to a fully digitalised platform so as to simplify the process.
The ministry has acknowledged that the process must be complete and efficient and taken note of the concerns raised by the Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) in May this year that the Malaysian palm oil sector could potentially incur losses of RM21 billion in 2021 and a further RM28 billion in 2022 if foreign workers were not brought into the country immediately.
Its minister Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin said for a long-term solution, the MPIC encourages farm owners to provide retraining and skills improvement among local workers, in addition to practising good labour management, which is important to keep foreign workers employed.
"A good labour force management policy will not only prevent foreign workers from absconding, but it would also enable employers to circumvent the risk of forced labour and human trafficking which can ultimately be disruptive to their export business in the long run,” she said in a statement.
She emphasised that the ministry would not compromise on issues related to forced labour in the
country and that Malaysia will continue to comply with the guidelines set by the International Labour Organization.
"In fact, MPIC will continue to support the National Action Plan on Forced Labour, which was developed in an effort to address and eradicate the issue of forced labour in the country,” she added. - BERNAMA