PUTRAJAYA, June 3 ― Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced today the government will be bringing in more Cambodians to work as domestic helpers in an sector that has been dominated by Indonesians previously.

He said his government has agreed to accept the offer from his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen.

“With respect to foreign workers, Cambodia has expressed interest for Malaysia to allow more Cambodian workers to work here in this country.

“We have accepted the offer and particularly in the field of domestic maids, so we will engage with the Cambodian government to allow more Cambodians to work as maids in this country,” Najib said in his speech here.

The Cambodian prime minister is in Malaysia on an official trip and both Southeast Asian leaders had signed several Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to foster closer ties on agricultural development and fighting human trafficking among other fields of cooperation.

Malaysia is struggling to cope with dwindling supply to meet the increasing demands for domestic helpers, an industry that had previously been filled by Indonesian migrant workers.

However, Jakarta has since tightened its regulations on sending its citizens abroad to work as maids after widespread cases of abuse at the hands of their foreign employers.