He said although the government has frozen foreign worker recruitment since last year, it has received requests from the plantation and commodities ministry to hire foreign workers because of a labour shortage.

“(Plantation and commodities minister) Johari Ghani has requested that we open the application process for plantation workers, especially in Sabah and Sarawak where plantation operators face losses if their crops are not harvested,” Bernama quoted him as saying at Universiti Teknologi Mara in Shah Alam today.

He said the plantation and commodities ministry had been asked to provide detailed information about the sector’s specific needs before any decision can be made.

“We will first ask plantation companies how many workers they require, and then the authorities will verify and confirm the numbers before we meet to make a final decision,” he said.

Saifuddin had previously mentioned that the freeze on foreign worker quota applications would remain until a date to be announced, as the number of foreign workers had approached the ceiling set by the government.

He said the total number of foreign workers is guided by the economy ministry’s target in the 12th Malaysia Plan for foreign workers to make up no more than 15% of the country’s overall workforce.