The government said that the workers should undergo mandatory skill development training program to get work permits starting from June 01, 2019.

Besides, those applying for foreign work permits should disclose their professional skill certificate under the Foreign Employment Act, 2064, says Bhola Nath Adhikari, Ministry spokesperson.

This decision is coming in the backdrop of skill-related challenges being faced by Nepali youth across foreign destinations.

The concerned department has already begun searching for institutes that provide professional training to foreign job aspirants across the local and provincial levels.

The training will be offered in five key areas such as cook, security guard, waiter, steel fixers, wiring electrician, cleaner, housekeeping, plumbing and scaffolding.

According to the department statistics, around 70 percent of Nepali migrant workforce going abroad are unskilled.

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In a recent decision, Nepal and Malaysia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on supply of labor.

The new deal will open ways for supply of Nepali labor to Malaysia, which has been on hold since six months period.

Prior to the signing ceremony, the Nepali Cabinet has approved this long-awaited proposal in a meeting on October 29, 2018.

Nepal and Malaysia agreed on this pact during Nepali delegation’s Malaysia visit in the last week of September 2018.

This deal gains significance in view of the fact that Malaysia is one of the biggest destinations for Nepali migrant workers, currently employing around 500,000 Nepalis.

A Result of Series of Discussions

The latest labor agreement underwent a rounds of discussions over the last six months and its draft was finalized last month after a three-round review in the six months period.

“Our main aim is to protect rights of our workers and ensure their safety in the host nation. This deal is going to be a milestone in that respect,” said Narayan Regmi, Secretary at the Minister for Labor, Employment and Social Security.

This first-ever labor agreement between the two countries will open avenues for the migration of Nepali workers to the latter country.

While Malaysia has been the key host for Nepali migrant workers since more than a decade, Nepal currently stands out to be the second largest contributor to Malaysian economy in terms of workforce.

The new labor pact is being termed as a landmark deal in the history of Nepal’s foreign employment sector, given the fact that Nepali workers will no longer need to pay any recruitment fees for Malaysian jobs.

Under the agreement, Malaysian employers will take bear all the expenses pertaining to hiring of workers, along with expenses for their return journey.

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The task force laid by the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security said the country has multiple opportunities for its labor migrants beyond the aforementioned regions.

The recommendations made by the task force majorly involved European countries such as Poland, Czech Republic, Portugal, Denmark, Sweden and Romania holding potential job opportunities in agriculture and manufacturing sectors.

According to Udaya Raj Pandey, Head of the panel and former Nepali Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Nepali migrant workers can find ample job opportunities in around 19 countries, with high potential in ship cruise services.

The task force further informed that Portugal and two Indian Ocean island nations, Seychelles and Mauritius, are keen on welcoming Nepali workers and have already sent draft MoUs to recruit Nepalis under the Government-to-Government modality.

Key Takeaways of the Study
Speaking on the sidelines of the report, panel member and migration researcher with the Center for the Study of Labor & Mobility Arjun Kharel said the recommendations were made after thorough deliberations with related stakeholders and international labor market already hosting high number of Nepali migrant workers.

According to the task force, there has been a high concentration of Nepali migrant workers in countries such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Malaysia and Oman since early 1990s.

While a total of 153 countries have given permits to Nepali workers during between FY 2008-09 and 2016-17 periods, the aforementioned seven countries alone accounted for 6.42 per cent of outgoing Nepali migrant workers.

“Sending Nepali workers to these countries without proper study of their labor markets and agreements with the host country would rather invite problems. There have been many instances of Nepalis trying to reach these countries through illegal channels either by educational consultancies or agents,” says Kharel, citing the challenges being faced by the migrant workers.

Hope the government’s decision following the recommendations will work towards enhancing safe and secure job opportunities for Nepali migrant workers.

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In continuation to the existing Micro-Enterprise Development Program (MEDP), the government has recently announced its additional budget of Rs1.09 billion for the development of micro enterprises during 2018-19.

Under the new plan, the government is preparing to distribute funds for micro enterprise development across local and provincial governments.

MEDPA, An Enhanced MEDP
After the initial establishment to encourage socially-excluded groups through off-farm employment, the government internalized MEDP as the Micro Enterprise Development for Poverty Alleviation (MEDPA) in December 2017.

According to the Secretary for Ministry of Industry Yam Kumari Khatiwada, the government is planning to implement the program using domestic resources.

“The ministry is in the process of formulating a directive to run the program, which will soon be sent to the Cabinet for final approval,” says Khatiwada.

According to the Ministry, enhancing operations at the grassroots level, boosting the product quality and improving market access are among key challenges pertaining to the implementation of MEDPA across the country.

Progress So Far
According to Khatiwada, the Ministry has so far reached out to poor communities across more than 500 local units encouraging them to operate micro enterprises.

Over the last two decades, the program has benefited lakhs of Nepalis across 77 districts by providing direct jobs to more than 170,149 and indirect opportunities to 172,425 people across the country.

A 2014 MEDP study reports that the program has improved the lives of more than 5 lakh people across the country.

“A large number of women in particular have benefitted from the program. Among them, 74 percent were women and 26 were from the Dalit community,” says the Ministry.

Through the program, the government aims at cutting down the number of workers moving out of the country for jobs by encouraging them to set up micro and small enterprises.

Nepal Government formed MEDP in 1998 with the support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Australia and has been making efforts to encourage micro enterprises across the country.

Let’s hope the latest move in this regard will help the government in realizing the true potential of the program!

Also Read: Nepal Employment Status: 2.8 Lakh Jobs Per Year Need of the Hour, says World Bank

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Two days after releasing the country’s first and its maiden Federal Budget 2018-19, the Oi-led Nepali Government came up with a decision that woos Nepali citizens.

For the first time in his history, the Government of Nepal announced a cap on foreign employees to be working in foreign-aided projects or joint venture firms of the country.

The government’s new regulation restricts the number of permits to foreign workers to three and the overall foreign workforce to not more than 5 percent in any Nepali firm.

However, the regulation exempts foreign governments, diplomats and companies that have already signed agreements with the Nepal Government.

 “We have been providing work permit to foreign workers as per the recommendation of enterprises, provided they could not get Nepali workers for the given task,” says Nabin Pokharel, Section Officer at Department of Labor that releases work permits.

Besides, the regulation has also cut down the maximum validity period of work permit for foreign workers. While the validity was earlier five and seven years for unskilled and skilled workforce, the number is now cut down to maximum of three and five years respectively as per the new regulation.

And, the fee for attaining a work permit is also increased. While it was Rs 10,000 (USD 92) to get a foreign work permit, now the regulation mandates foreign workers to pay Rs 15,000 (USD 139) for validity up to six months and Rs 20,000 Nepali Rupees (USD 185) for more than that.

A Boost to Local Employment

The latest decision to control the number of foreign workforce comes as an encouragement to local employment in Nepal, which is currently witnessing a migration trend.

As a country with more number of migrant workforce, Nepal has seen a steep rise in number of its workforce moving to foreign destinations for education and employment. To stop this trend, the government.

Let’s hope the new regulation would encourage more migrating population, especially the youth, towards pursuing their employment and educational career opportunities locally, contributing to the domestic growth. #NepalForLocalEmployment

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Towards this end, Secretary at the Nepali Ministry of Labour and Employment Laxman Prasad Mainali requested ILO Director General (DG) Ryder to plan for green-jobs creation and skill development programs in Nepal.

Mainali made this proposal as part of his participation at the 331^st governing board meeting of ILO held in Geneva, in the first week of November 2017.

While informing that the Nepali youth migrating for foreign employment are in need of skill development programs, Mainali also urged the ILO Director to ensure safety of Nepali migrant labor working at foreign destinations.

“Nepal needs support to create jobs in the country for the youths to prevent them from going abroad and also to provide them opportunities when they return home after completing their contract,” said Mainali.

Meanwhile, Binda Pandey, a Deputy Member of the governing board of ILO and a representative of the Nepali team at the meeting, highlighted concerns of Nepali labor migrants with regard to work conditions and migration.

In this regard, Pandey requested ILO’s technical support to Nepal towards implementation of the social measures related to the new Labor Act such as labor inspection and capacity building.

On the occasion, Pandey proposed the extension of the Decent Work Country Program in Nepal for another five years.

In response, Ryder assured all the needed support from ILO with regard to job creation and addressing the concerns of labor migration, while urging on the need for safe and secure ways of managing migration.

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