KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia and Bangladesh are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding in the near future to lift a ban and bring Bangladeshi nationals to be recruited as immigrant workers under a government-to-government deal. Government officials said they hoped to have the agreement finalized so workers can begin arriving in Malaysia by December. Human Resource Minister S. Subramaniam said on Tuesday that a Malaysia-Bangladesh joint committee had been set up, with a representative from the Bangladesh High Commission sitting on it. “We are now looking into finalising the MOU and hope to sign it as soon as possible. Our target is the intake of Bangladeshi workers by December this year,” he told reporters after the ministry's monthly gathering. Subramaniam had led a delegation to Dhaka recently after the Cabinet Committee on Foreign Workers and Illegal Immigrants agreed to the trip following an appeal by Bangladesh for Malaysia to reconsider recruiting Bangladeshi immigrant workers. Malaysia imposed an indefinite ban on the intake of Bangladeshi workers in 2007 following numerous cases and complaints of exploitation by employers and recruitment agents in this country.