Pakistani workers arrive in Malaysia

Pakistani workers arrive in Malaysia

MALAYSIA: More than 1,000 Pakistani workers have arrived in
Malaysia as the first batch of an estimated 100,000 Pakistanis
scheduled to stream into the country to fill a labor shortage
caused by the departure and expulsion of Indonesian workers, a
news report said on Wednesday.

The New Straits Times daily said 1,100 Pakistanis have started
working in the manufacturing sector and the rest will take up
jobs in stages.

Malaysia is heavily reliant on foreign labor for doing menial
jobs, and is facing a dire shortage of some 400,000 workers since
it expelled illegal workers, mostly Indonesians, earlier this
year. Many also left voluntarily under an amnesty.

Many were supposed to return after getting proper
documentation in Indonesia, but have been held up by bureaucratic
problems.

Besides Pakistan, Malaysia also is hoping to source labor from
India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar and Vietnam to meet the
shortfall in industries such as manufacturing, construction and
plantations.

The Times quoted Malaysian Employers' Federation executive
director Shamsuddin Bardan as saying the oil plantations are
losing 60 million to 70 million ringgit (US$15-18 million) a
month because of labor shortage. --AP