PLANTATION: DEPENDENCY ON FOREIGN WORKERS TO BE TACKLED BY 2020

TAIPING (Malaysia), June 29 (Bernama) -- The plantation industry's
dependency on foreign workers is expected to be tackled by 2020, Deputy
Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Hamzah Zainuddin said.

He said this was because the government was in the midst of intensifying
efforts to lure young people to fill the vacancies in the industry.

"It's not like we don't need foreign workers, but we want to reduce their
number in the country from over 500,000 now to about 100,000," he told reporters
after opening a plantation career talk and exhibition at the Rakan Muda complex
in Kamunting, near here, Sunday.

Taiping is a town located in northern Perak, Malaysia.

He said young people in the country should not think that working in the
plantation sector "will not make anybody rich" because through effective
strategies, assistance and expertise provided by the government and the
private sector, they could achieve tremendous success in this sector.

Hamzah said the ministry was also willing to help any individual interested
in venturing into the commodities sector like the cocoa, rubber and palm oil
sectors.

"They can write to me directly and tell me their problems and the kind of
assistance they want. If it will do them good, I will help," he said.

-- BERNAMA