Tuesday May 10, 11:53 AM - The government may consider East Timor'soffer to supply Malaysia with construction and agricultural workers in themidst of a shortage of legal foreign laborers, a news report said.

Malaysia's Home Minister Azmi Khalid said East Timor's Foreign MinisterJose Ramos Horta made the offer, pointing out that East Timorese couldspeak the Malay language or the similar language Bahasa Indonesia, theBernama news agency reported late Monday.

Ramos Horta was quoted as saying that his government would look into "thenumber of workers to be sent to Malaysia in the construction sector,semiskilled and agricultural sector, particularly in the oil palm sector."

He said his people were disciplined and hardworking.

Azmi said he would present the offer to Malaysia's Cabinet, which willdecide whether or not to accept. Azmi's aides could not immediately bereached for comment.The report did not give further details.

Malaysia's recent expulsion of hundreds of thousands of illegal Indonesianworkers has resulted in a labor shortage here, dealing a harsh blow to theconstruction, manufacturing and other sectors.The Indonesian laborers were supposed to return after going throughprocedures to become legal workers, but bureaucratic hurdles have heldthem back.

The Malaysian government plans to hire about 100,000 Pakistanis, and hasalso been considering citizens of other countries.

About 1 million legal foreign laborers _ and an estimated 400,000 withoutproper permits_ work here in low-paying jobs that most Malaysians shun.They form the backbone of several key Malaysian industries.