The tiny city-state, which has hundreds of thousands of foreigners working in the construction industry, plans to change the criteria for work permits as part of long-term plans to reduce its reliance on this imported labour. The number of foreign construction workers will be tightened by five to 10 percent compared with last year from June 1, the Manpower Ministry said in a statement.

Singapore plans to reduce contractors' foreign worker entitlements to 70 percent of 1999 levels by 2005, and 50 percent by 2010. Workers from Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand will be affected.

Under the current system, employers are given entitlements in terms of man-years to employ foreign workers. These entitlements vary according to the value of the building projects.

Neighbouring Malaysia, home to more than a million foreign workers, recently decided to halve the number of Indonesians working in the country after several incidents of violence.

Thailand, which has at least a million illegal immigrants from its poorer neighbours, launched a nationwide crackdown last month.

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