GOVT EYES BETTER POLICY FOR FOREIGN WORKERS
Move will address recruitment abuses, says PM
TUN Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday said the government is set to draft a proper policy for foreign workers. This, the prime minister said, would help address the questionable way they were brought into the country.
“We’re studying to find a proper policy for foreign workers... there are many wrong things being done (with regard to their recruitment),” he said at the American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce luncheon here yesterday.
Dr Mahathir cited the example of a company being given the right to bring in foreign workers without undergoing a tender process, and making a lot of money along the way.
Dr Mahathir also noted that Malaysia was expecting a lot of visitors, “some legal, some illegal, some temporary and some permanent”.
“All this will have to be looked into,” he told his audience.
He said the country was set to welcome a huge number of tourists, for example from China, and the matter of issuing visas to them would need to be resolved as well.
Dr Mahathir pointed out that it was not always easy to ensure that people came to Malaysia legally, with the country having five nations as close neighbours and what he described as “very porous borders”.
“All these things are being studied and we would welcome any suggestion from the private sector,” he said.
Dr Mahathir said the government welcomed foreigners with certain skill sets, such as in new technology and information technology, to come and live in this country.
“If the foreigners come with certain skills that we want, we would invite them to stay in this country and even become citizens if they want to.
“We would like to have more people with brains to come and live in Malaysia and contribute to industrialisation,” he said.