MITI made a strong call upon the industry players to seriously adopt ethical recruitment to prevent forced labour malpractices that could be detrimental to their business sustainability

Ministry of International Trade & Industry (MITI) organised a webinar in collaboration with the Department of Labour Peninsular Malaysia (JTKSM) and PLANMalaysia to increase Malaysian manufacturers’ awareness of the Government’s initiatives to address accommodation issues for workers.

The webinar titled “Provision of Workers Accommodation for Industries Under the Manufacturing Sector” (Penyediaan Penginapan Pekerja Bagi Industri Di Bawah Sektor Pembuatan) saw the participation of 630 attendees from manufacturing companies in various sectors in Malaysia. The session was also joined by industry associations and foreign business chambers. The programme featured briefings to help companies better understand the measures required in providing safe and conducive accommodation for their workers, including guidelines on the application procedure for the provision of Short-Term Labour Quarters and Centralised Labour Quarters (CLQ), in line with the requirements under the Minimum Standards of Housing, Accommodation and Amenities (Amendment) Act, 2019 or Act 446.

“As the nation moves towards building back better under the guidelines of the Twelfth Malaysian Plan (2021 – 2025), a strong emphasis on the ESG is central to the development of Malaysian manufacturing industries. Workers’ accommodation, in particular, is key, as far as the social and governance elements are concerned.”

MITI’s Deputy Secretary-General (Industry) The Honourable Dato’ Seri Norazman Ayob in his opening remarks noted that issues related to forced labour, accommodation and management of foreign workers have been raised by various parties. “MITI believes that providing conducive workers’ accommodation plays a pivotal role in driving productivity, which ultimately improves manufacturers’ competitiveness. As the nation moves towards building back better under the guidelines of the Twelfth Malaysian Plan (2021 – 2025), a strong emphasis on the ESG is central to the development of Malaysian manufacturing industries. Workers’ accommodation, in particular, is key, as far as the social and governance elements are concerned,” he said.

During the webinar, MITI made a strong call upon the industry players to seriously adopt ethical recruitment to prevent forced labour malpractices that could be detrimental to their business sustainability. “The Government views this very seriously – we have been urging industries, particularly those employing foreign workers, to comply with the labour law and maintain the required standards in terms of housing and amenities,” Dato’ Seri Norazman said.

For the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic became a catalyst to the introduction of a more expansive policy approach, to protecting the migrant workers in the country. In February 2021, the Malaysian government announced it is providing free COVID-19 vaccines to all migrant workers in the country through the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme or PICK. In June this year, MITI launched the Public-Private Partnership COVID-19 Industry Immunisation Program (PIKAS), to vaccinate more than 1.3 million manufacturing sector workers. As of 25 September 2021, 1,000,856 workers have been administered the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 899,626 workers have received their full vaccination (two doses) through PIKAS.

In addition, MITI has taken a proactive and responsive measure by introducing an initiative known as Safe@Work that focuses on creating safe work bubbles at both the manufacturing sites and workers’ accommodation.