The decision was made by the committee during a meeting here on Tuesday.

'Many locals are still interested to work in fast-food restaurants. Cooking skills needed in fast-food outlets are not as demanding as in restaurants and can be easily learnt through training.

'As such, the jobs are preferred by locals, especially youths, school-leavers and university students, to gain experience in the food and beverage industry and as a source of income, either on a part-time or full-time basis,' it said in a statement after the meeting.

It is learnt that there had been applications by fast-food operators to employ foreign workers but these were rejected by the government.

The two-and-a-half hour meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin was also attended by Home Minister Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Health Minister Dr S. Subramaniam, Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Tourism Minister Nazri Aziz, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Rohani Karim and Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Douglas Unggah Embas.

However, the statement did not mention when the ruling would come into effect.

During the meeting, the committee also agreed to extend the present Malaysia-Bangladesh government-to-government mechanism for the hiring of foreign workers in Sarawak.

'The mechanism is for the Sarawak state government to fill up vacancies in its oil palm plantation sector,' it said.

On the Special Programme of Managing Illegals, the committee urged employers, who claimed to have been cheated by agents and middlemen during the 6P programme, to go to the home ministry's one-stop centre before January 20 to sort out their applications.

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