Malaysia is a net importer of migrant workers. It exports highly-skilled labour on a long-term or permanent basis and imports low to medium-skilled contract migrant workers. The latter form an overwhelming majority of cross-border labour flows and the incidence of irregular migration is high among the less-educated and less-skilled migrants. Hence, the policy focus on labour migration has been on managing migrant labour flows to maximize growth and facilitate structural adjustment and minimize the negative consequences on economy and society. Striking a balance between the short-term and long-term needs of the economy has been a complex policy challenge.  Publication:  Paper presented by Vijayakumari Kanapathy at the Workshop on an East Asian Cooperation Framework for Migrant Labour, Kuala Lumpur, 6-7 December 2006.  Author:  Vijayakumari Kanapathy.