KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 28 — South-east Asian governments have yet to decide on the quantum for each member state in importing labour from 2019, Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran said today, despite the near expiry date of the current agreement.

He said Putrajaya is pushing for stricter measures to be incorporated even as Asean leaders iron out details for a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

Among the issues to be ironed out are new regulations for worker levy and logistic arrangements, such as who pays for air fares; and proposals for employers to pay a per head tax.

"We need to discuss all these details out first,” Kulasegaran told reporters after opening the 25th Asean Labour Ministers’ Meeting here.

"They are being deliberated for the MoU… but the quantum has not been decided,” he added.

The Pakatan Harapan administration is hoping to reduce Malaysia’s reliance on foreign labour.

Malaysia has come under criticism for migrant worker exploitation.

Today’s conference is meant to address protection of migrant workers, among other issues.

Malaysia is working on creating a unified system for the recruitment of foreign workers regardless of the source country, the new PH administration announced earlier this month.

Doing so would help cut red tape and eradicate recruitment by unscrupulous hiring agents who tarnished Malaysia’s reputation, causing it to be known as a human trafficking hub.

In August, a Nepali envoy to Malaysia expressed satisfaction with Malaysia’s efforts to create a single foreign worker hiring system

The Star reported Nepal’s Charge d’Affaires AI Kumar Raj Kharel as saying that the process can be expedited once Nepal signs a proposed MoU with Malaysia on bringing in workers from his country.