KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20 — Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today said a company has been shortlisted to handle the online management of 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers, pending negotiations between Malaysia and Bangladesh.

Ahmad Zahid named Synerflux as the ministry’s choice for the task, after ministry and immigration officials evaluated proposal letters submitted and discussed the using an online system to bring in workers from the South Asian country.

The minister noted, however, that the deal has not been finalised as Malaysia and Bangladesh work towards a final agreement on the labour deal.

“The current development is the Malaysian and Bangladeshi governments are currently in negotiation for the workers intake to fulfil the country’s workforce need,” Ahmad Zahid said in a written reply to Datuk Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena).

Ahmad Zahid said Synerflux was shortlisted to handle the planned labour transfer as their proposed model was the most viable and provided Putrajaya with a “more systematic, efficient and controlled procedure to hire workers”.

“At this time, both governments are updating mechanisms and implementation procedures. The ministry is also looking into technical aspects proposed by the company,” he added.

The project previously sparked controversy after reports claimed that the contract was to be awarded to Ahmad Zahid’s brother, businessman Datuk Abdul Hakim.

The Home Ministry denied a report claiming that Ahmad Zahid had ordered it to award a management system contract for Bangladeshi workers to his brother’s company, saying the matter is still being discussed.

In a statement published by The Star in August, the ministry admitted, however, that there was a “note” on the working paper submitted by Real Time Networking Sdn Bhd ― where Abdul Hakim sits as executive chairman.

The ministry did not divulge further details on the note but stressed that it did not amount to a directive or approval for the contract award.