KUALA LUMPUR: The National Economic Action Council (NEAC) is set to discuss specific mechanisms to gradually reduce the number of foreign workers in the country, next month.
Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP), which will be presented next year, will aim for a more drastic and significant reduction in the number of foreign workers.
"I brought this up in Parliament today so that we can prepare our industry and economy earlier.
"We need to be committed to reducing the number of unskilled foreign workers and immigrants in the country," he said during the minister's question and answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was responding to additional questions from Datuk Mohd Shahar Abdullah (BN-Paya Besar) regarding the phenomenon of competition between local and foreign workers.
Rafizi said the proposed mechanism entails not only policy adjustments but also collaboration from industries, as every time the previous administration wanted to reduce foreign workers, it received objections.
