The Government would continue to cut the number of imported workers and crack down on illegal workers, the Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, said today. Speaking at a plenary session of the Legislative Assembly, Mr Ho said the number of imported workers shrunk from about 104,000 last September to some 87,000 in March, with most of the cuts in the construction sector. He said that the Government would continue to ensure the job priority of local workers, yet the contribution of imported labour should not be unacknowledged. He said that the Government had enforced a host of measures in cutting the number of imported labour. For example, companies in catering, hotel and gaming industries were asked to gradually cut the number of imported labour by half when renewing their work permits. Moreover, the Government and gaming companies had reached consensus in completely cutting the imported labour working as table games supervisors and provide more than 1,000 managerial positions to local workers. The Government would continue to cut imported labour in the next few months. However, it was unrealistic to stop all imported labour at once, as Macao, an all-round tourism and entertainment hub, should maintain its service standard at a competitive level, not to mention smaller companies’ difficulties in finding suitable replacements in a short space of time. The Government and trade associations would launch more training courses for local workers to enable them to fill the vacancy left by imported workers. The Government would also step up its efforts in combating illegal workers. He said he hoped that the Legislative Assembly could put the article regulating illegal workers on its top agenda when the Assembly discuss the imported labour bill. To prevent overstayers from working illegally, the Government would also liaise with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and some countries to revise the visa-on-arrival policies for visitors from some countries.
Is there anything wrong with this page?