MELAKA (April 15): The country needs an economic policy which recognises the skills of the people in all fields to reduce the dependence on foreign labour, said Deputy Minister of Defence Senator Liew Chin Tong.

Liew, who is also Johor DAP chairman, said through such a policy the Government, among others, must ensure the salaries fixed in all employment fields for the skilled local people were reasonable and could accommodate the increasing cost of living.

He said the economic policy must also be implemented so that local manpower especially those with skills felt appreciated and did not seek work abroad such as in Singapore which offered higher wages.

"To increase the salaries of the people, we must restructure the national economy. We must reduce foreign workers without skills and give the opening to local skilled manpower.

"It cannot be done in a day or two because the cost of living and wage are issues which have taken place a long time and we need a vision so that our economic policy created an economy which appreciates skill so that the nation has ample labour force or ample local employment opportunity," he told reporters after the programme ‘Coffee talk: New Malaysia. What’s Next?’ in Bukit Beruang here today.

Liew said one of the measures to reduce national dependency on non-skilled foreign workers was by using technology such as artificial intelligence and robotics especially for handing machines for industries and construction.

Meanwhile, he said youths should be together with politicians to study and formulate better policies for the country in various fields in the future.

He said the co-operation was important because the aspect of politics encompassed numerous employment sectors so that integrity could be instilled in the people in the country.

"The current youths will shape the position of the nation in the future. We need accountants of integrity so that leakages will not take place such as in the issue of 1MDB," he added.