Caretaker plantation industries and commodities minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said, nevertheless, the problems were being resolved and the intake of foreign workers was proceeding smoothly.

“Initially, there were a lot of hiccups, hence the delay.

“But the problems are being taken care of. The intake is now proceeding smoothly and the number of foreign workers entering the country is higher,” she said after attending the ”Jom Kenali Agrikomoditi” event here today.

Zuraida said the exports of agricultural commodities had recorded a good achievement on a month-to-month basis, hitting more than RM100 billion since early this year.

However, she said the target of RM300 billion could not be achieved this year due to Covid-19 and the foreign labour issue.

“Initially, I projected the entry of foreign workers would be easier this year but, unexpectedly, there were many problems.

“Hence, the entry of foreign workers only started in August. Due to this delay, the production target cannot be achieved,” she said.

According to the statistics department, there were 2.1 million foreign workers attached to various industries in the country as of June this year.