Malaysia and India are set to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the recruitment of Indian workers in that country, it was announced here at the end of a visit by Indian Minister for Communication and Technology A. Raja.

The MoU has been cleared by India and is awaiting a final nod from the Malaysian cabinet, Malaysia's Human Resources Minister S. Subramaniam said here Thursday.

Malaysia would soon appoint a labour attache at the Malaysian High Commission office in Chennai to look into the recruitment of workers, Subramaniam was quoted as saying by Malaysia's Nanban newspaper Friday.

The minister said he had assured India that its citizens would be treated well and given the same rights as other workers. The agreement would benefit mostly unskilled and semi-skilled Indian workers.

A large number of Indian IT techies also work in Malaysia, which is heavily dependent on foreign workers to boost various sectors of its economy.

Subramaniam said a collaboration would be established between Malaysia's skills development centres and leading technical and skills training institutes in India to train Indian workers who head to his country.

With this arrangement, he added that Malaysia would be able to source only skilled workers from India, The Star newspaper reported.