Wednesday May 11, 9:22 AM - More than 1,000 Pakistani workers havearrived in Malaysia as the first batch in an estimated 100,000 Pakistanisscheduled to stream into the country to fill a labor shortage caused bythe departure and expulsion of Indonesian workers, a news report saidWednesday.

The New Straits Times daily said 1,100 Pakistanis have started working inthe manufacturing sector and the rest will take up jobs in stages.

Malaysia is heavily reliant on foreign labor for doing menial jobs, and isfacing a dire shortage of some 400,000 workers since it expelled illegalworkers, mostly Indonesians, earlier this year. Many also left voluntarilyunder an amnesty.

Many were supposed to return after getting proper documentation inIndonesia, but have been held up by bureaucratic problems.

Besides Pakistan, Malaysia also is hoping to source labor from India, SriLanka, Nepal, Myanmar and Vietnam to meet the shortfall in industries suchas manufacturing, construction and plantations.

The Times quoted Malaysian Employers' Federation executive directorShamsuddin Bardan as saying the oil plantations are losing 60 million to70 million ringgit (US$15-18 million; €11-14 million) a month because oflabor shortage.

"The losses are due to the shortage of workers available to harvest oilpalm fruits which are highly perishable, Shamsuddin was quoted as saying.

The daily also quoted Home Minister Tan Chan Ho as saying that thegovernment has approved the recruitment of 900 more foreigners, includingPakistanis, in professional fields such as medicine, engineering andinformation technology