Malaysia’s Human Resources Minister, Datuk Seri M. Saravanan said that Malaysia and Indonesia will sign a memorandum of understanding on the recruitment and placement of Indonesian domestic helpers in February. “We are now in the final stages of negotiations with Indonesia, including the overall cost of bringing in the maids,” he told a media conference in Putrajaya.
Datuk Saravanan said the negotiations between Malaysia and Indonesia were, among others, to control the cost of bringing in the domestic helpers to between RM10,000 and RM15,000, including the quarantine costs and levies. He denied that the cost of bringing the domestic helpers would reach RM25,000 due to quarantine costs and higher airfares as reported by the media, which cited maid agencies as saying that the recruitment fee was between RM16,000 and RM20,000 before the COVID-19 pandemic.
