KUALA LUMPUR, May 21 — The government reiterated its stance on the freeze of the recruitment of foreign labour and to prioritise on creating employment opportunities for the locals.

Human Resource Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan said despite pressure from some sectors that needed foreign labour, the government wanted the job vacancies to be filled with local workers.

Therefore, he said, Malaysians, especially youths, are advised to register under the MYFutureJobs programme which offers various job opportunities, especially in the agriculture, services, plantation and construction sectors.

"We are still facing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the implementation of the MCO (movement control order), we do not allow the recruitment of foreign labour, we want our people to have jobs," he said when appearing on the Ruang Bicara Bernama TV programme here last night.

Saravanan explained that before the implementation of the MCO last year, a total of 1.7 million registered foreign workers were recorded and the number continued to decline after about 500,000 returned to their countries of origin. — Bernama