Malaysia is to allow an unlimited number of workers from Sri Lanka into the country in a bid to address a critical labour shortage, Sri Lankan diplomats said today.

The agreement, which places Sri Lanka on a list of official labour-providing countries, follows the Sri Lankan Labour and Foreign Employment Minister Athauda Seneviratne's visit to Kuala Lumpur last week.

"(The Malaysians) assured us that jobs in large numbers are available in the construction, manufacturing, information technology, plantation, tourism and health sectors," Seneviratne said during the visit.

Malaysia is one of the largest importers of foreign labour in Asia. Foreign workers, both legal and illegal, number around 2.6 million of its 10.5 million workforce, officials say.

The Sri Lankan government will screen potential workers to make sure that only genuine candidates who do not pose any security risks make their way to Malaysia, said B Wijayaratne, Labour Counselor with the Sri Lankan High Commission.

It will also monitor employment conditions and agreements being offered to Sri Lankans.

"Sri Lanka expects Malaysian employers to give a fair deal to these fellows," Wijayratne told AFP Monday.

Huge labour gap

The repatriation earlier this year of some 400,000 illegal immigrants, mostly Indonesians, left a huge labour gap in the agricultural, construction, manufacturing and services sectors.

In an attempt to legalise the workforce, the government has been looking for workers from countries other than Indonesia, including Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Burma and Vietnam.

Sri Lanka currently has less than 1,000 workers in Malaysia, most of whom are domestic workers. Wijayratne said the numbers of Sri Lankans entering the country would depend on market forces.

About 1,000 Pakistani workers, the first batch of an intake of 100,000, are expected to arrive in Malaysia by mid-June.