Local furniture manufacturers faced with foreign worker shortage - Mah

The government views the shortage in manpower faced by the country's furniture manufacturers due to technical issues in the sourcing of foreign workers from Bangladesh, seriously.

Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC) Minister, Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong said the ministry was currently in discussion with the Ministry of Home Affairs to resolve the issue faced by local furniture manufacturers, as an effort to avoid the industry from encountering losses.

"Some manufacturers still face difficulty in bringing in Bangladeshi workers to Malaysia even after paying levy due to the technical problem.

"A representative of the furniture manufacturer association said if the shortage of workers persists until next year, the country's industry could expect losses of about RM1 billion," he said in a media conference here Friday.

He said this when attending a ceremony to award Lee Sweet Kiat Berhad Group a place in the 'Malaysia Book of Records' for being the top Malaysian natural rubber mattress manufacturer.

Mah said last month Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot had gone to Bangladesh to resolve the issue.

He explained, as a record, for this year, the government received 294,000 applications for entry of foreign workers from 4,000 companies involved in manufacturing, plantations and construction industries.

To date, 3,500 companies have received permission to interview about 222,000 foreign workers with a view to fill vacancies and are only waiting for final approval before bringing in the workers. -- BERNAMA