KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 20 — The Malaysian government will carry on with the previous administration’s foreign worker memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bangladesh and Indonesia, said the Human Resources Minister V. Sivakumar.

He said that the ministry has no plans to review the agreement that was signed by his predecessor on bringing more foreign workers to Malaysia to remedy the country’s labour shortage.

"So far none. Nothing yet. We will continue with whatever MoU we have signed so far,” he told reporters at the Parliament building.

When asked about the government’s efforts to expedite the entry of migrant workers, Sivakumar said that the ministry noted the increasing demand for labour and will address the matter as soon as possible.

"There are some changes that will be announced soon. We’re working very closely with the Home Ministry to find solutions on how we can expedite the process.

"We hope that the new set-up will be faster than before. The details I will announce very soon after we have finalised how to set it up,” he added.

Last week, Sivakumar pledged that the labour shortage would be the main priority for the Human Resources Ministry, saying that 67,958 from a total of 75,751 applications from 466 employers had been approved as of December 2.

Sivakumar said he would be working closely with industry players to find solutions for workers in case of future retrenchment and also focus on developing the technical and vocational education and training (TVCET), talent management and development as well as social protection.

Earlier this year, previous human resources minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan signed a foreign worker MoU with Bangladesh and Indonesia to remedy the labour shortage in the country.