Indonesia and Malaysia enhance cooperation on migrant worker placement

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian and Malaysian governments are exploring broader cooperation opportunities to enhance the quality of placement and protection for Indonesian migrant workers (PMI) in various strategic sectors in the neighbouring country. This initiative was pursued when the Minister of Migrant Worker Protection (P2MI), Mukhtarudin, received an audience from a delegation of the Economic Affairs and Small and Medium Enterprises Committee of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) Party in Malaysia at the P2MI Ministry in Jakarta on Tuesday. “Malaysia is the largest placement country for PMI. We discussed several potential collaborations between the P2MI Ministry and MCA regarding employment opportunities for PMI in Malaysia,” said Mukhtarudin in Jakarta on Tuesday. The potential collaborations include MCA assisting in identifying job opportunities and the types of skills needed by industries in Malaysia so that training in Indonesia is more targeted. Both parties also considered establishing a task force (satgas) between the P2MI Ministry and MCA for resolving disputes between PMI and employment provider companies. In addition, the cooperation also encompasses PMI empowerment programmes through training and entrepreneurship scholarships, as well as facilitating the marketing of PMI products to Malaysia through the MCA network. “We also discussed other production sectors, such as care, transportation, education, and advocacy,” he added. He hopes that MCA can become a strategic partner as a bridge for education for Malaysian entrepreneurs to recruit PMI procedurally and fulfil basic employment rights in accordance with regulations. “Of course, the arrival of MCA in Indonesia strengthens the synergy of cooperation between Indonesia and Malaysia, especially regarding migrant workers, PMI protection, and improving the quality of PMI human resources who will be sent to Malaysia,” said Mukhtarudin. “We talked about politics, economy, trade, and plantations, especially in the palm oil sector. We also discussed a lot about migrant worker issues, where Malaysia is a good friend of Indonesia. So, our arrival is like returning to the village,” he said. Low also expressed appreciation and thanks for the opportunity to dialogue and explore broader cooperation opportunities with Indonesia.