Saifuddin said the matter was discussed during his meeting with Indonesian manpower minister Ida Fauziyah, and law and human rights minister Yasonna Laoly in Jakarta yesterday.

In a statement, Saifuddin said he had explained the policy changes in Malaysia on the alignment of the management of foreign workers including the foreign worker employment relaxation plan and the extension of the foreign worker recalibration programme (RTK) 2.0 which will tackle manpower needs in critical sectors to drive the country’s economic development.

Discussions will be held at an official level between the two countries as well, he said.

Saifuddin said the meeting with the Indonesian ministers also touched on the enforcement of immigration and labour laws involving Indonesian workers, the management of the repatriation of prisoners and immigration detainees as well as coordination actions to minimise the risk of foreign workers being taken advantage of by irresponsible parties.

“Also discussed were the reduction of migration time and costs related to the hiring of foreign workers as well as optimising the use of digital technology for system integration and facilitating the monitoring of workers,” he said.

The discussion also involved cooperation in immigration and border control to ensure the sovereignty and security of both countries, he added.

Indonesia is the first source country for foreign workers visited by the home ministry, following the meeting between Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Indonesian president Joko Widodo earlier this month.