Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar said upon his return from Kuala Lumpur Thursday that the agreement was expected to be signed during President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's official visit to the Malaysian capital on May 18.

"I visited Kuala Lumpur on Monday and Tuesday, meeting with Malaysia's relevant officials and preparing the signing of the new labor agreement. Both delegations were enthusiastic and optimistic about solving any technical problems a few days before *the labor treaty* is signed," he said.

The agreement's draft contains four crucial points. It deals with migrant workers maintaining access their own working passport and ensures their right to at least one day off per week, recruitment fees and the minimum wage.

Under the current labor pact, Indonesian migrant workers have their passports held by their Malaysian employers, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation and abuse in the workplace.

Some 2 million Indonesians work in Malaysia, most of whom are employed as domestic helpers and plantation workers. Rife labor abuses have drawn strong criticism from the International Human Rights Watch and led the Indonesian government to suspending labor supply to that country since June 26, 2009.

The Malaysian government has repeatedly claimed that it's difficult to stop labor abuses due to the high influx of illegal immigrants to the booming country from Indonesia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, the director for overseas labor placement at the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry, Rosmawati, said bilateral negotiations on labor affairs in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur were still going on intensively and were expected to conclude in a few days.

"The Malaysian delegation is still negotiating with the Indonesian ambassador and labor attache in Kuala Lumpur and the Indonesian team is still negotiating with the Malaysian ambassador and labor attache in Jakarta. We will meet again early next week to conclude negotiations in Kuala Lumpur," she said.

Rosmawati admitted the joint team had faced difficulties pertaining to the recruitment fees and the minimum wage, mainly because the recruitment fees varied depending on workers' home villages in Indonesia and Malaysia had never set a minimum wage for its own workers, let alone those from other countries.

"The joint team will set recruitment fee components and establish which ones will be covered by Malaysian employers and which ones by workers. The minimum wage will be evaluated periodically by considering the Malaysian labor market," she said, adding Indonesian migrant workers had received about 600 Malaysian ringgit per month.

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