KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 — Employers are urged to consider hiring foreign workers from approved source countries and not merely rely on traditional source nations alone as part of efforts to address the shortage of foreign labour.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the government, which remains committed to tackling the issue and challenges of hiring foreign workers, also urged the Human Resources Ministry (KSM) to speed up the employer interview process by increasing the number of interviewers at One Stop Centres (OSCs) according to zones and states.

In addition, he said the Economic Action Council (EAC) which met today also decided that the Home Ministry (KDN) together with industry players, business associations and relevant parties hold face-to-face meetings until the end of July to resolve the issue.

“The government listens to complaints and views from industry players regarding the country’s labour market which is currently facing a critical shortage of foreign manpower,” he said after chairing the EAC meeting here today.

Ismail Sabri said the government also urged the Malaysian Productivity Corporation (MPC) to resolve complex cases within 60 days after they successfully resolved 30 per cent of issues received through MyMudah less than the target period.

He said the meeting agreed for the MPC to expedite the establishment of more MyMudah units in ministries and local authorities to ensure that bureaucratic issues could be improved. “The meeting took note of the performance of the MyMudah programme at the ministry level by the MPC to reduce bureaucracy, but there are still many complaints received from the industry.

“Therefore, the MPC is asked to resolve issues related to bureaucracy through the strengthening of the MyMudah programme,” he said.

The prime minister also said that the Agriculture and Food Industry Ministry was asked to implement programmes related to national food security which had been agreed upon by the government immediately.

Ismail said the government always strived to ensure that the problems faced by industry players were resolved immediately through joint efforts by all parties to ensure the wellbeing of Keluarga Malaysia in an inclusive and comprehensive manner. — Bernama