PUTRAJAYA, April 4 — A total of 475,678 applications for recruitment of foreign workers have been received as of April 1, said Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan.

He said of the total, 290,248 applications were for workers in the manufacturing sector, service (77,000), plantation (53,854), construction (43,519), agriculture (11,037), mining and quarry (20).

Saravanan said the applications were currently being processed and to date the ministry had given approval for the recruitment of 2,605 foreign workers in the manufacturing and plantation sectors.

There were also applications that could not be processed due to several reasons, including providing incomplete or inaccurate information and exceeding quota, he said in a statement today.

The application for recruitment of foreign workers in all sectors of employment was open on February 15. — Bernama