Kuala Lumpur, March 1 (IANS) The Malaysian government has allowed recruitment of 45,000 foreign workers in at least 13 business sectors hit by manpower shortage. A large number of the workers in these sectors are ethnic Indians.

Workers are urgently required in restaurants, grocery shops and in the textiles industry, which faced difficulty in recruiting local labour.

Human Resource Minister S. Subramaniam, an ethnic Indian, said Sunday that the approval for the recruitment of foreign workers was given after the government took into account the problem faced by the sectors concerned.

Businesses run by ethnic Indians had applied to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and to his ministry through the Malaysian Associated Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the recruitment of 90,000 foreign workers.

"Following discussions, the government has now agreed to approve the entry of 45,000 foreign workers in 13 business sectors to meet the initial requirement, so they can continue operating," New Straits Times quoted Subramaniam as saying Monday.

The minister made the announcement at the opening of a renovated restaurant, Wisma Persatuan Pengusaha Restoran India Malaysia by former Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) president S. Samy Vellu, who is now special envoy on infrastructure to India and South Asia.

Malaysia is home to 2.1 million ethnic Indians, a bulk of whom are Tamils, engaged in a wide variety of small and medium businesses.