Nepal bags country of the year award

Nepal received the country of the year award 2019 for being recognised the Asia’s Best Nation For Mountaineering Adventures at the Top Asia Corporate Ball 2019 organised by Research House of Asia (RHA) Media in Malaysia.
Nepal received the award after being confirmed by carrying out various research surveys on Asian Countries among 5 shortlisted countries for the category of ‘Asia’s Best Nation for Mountaineering Adventures’.
The award was presented by deputy minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture of Malaysia YB Tuan Muhammad Bakhtar bin Wan Chik to ambassador of Nepal to Malaysia Uday Raj Panday, amidst a special ceremony at Shangri-La Hotel in Kuala Lumpur today.
The Top 10 of Asia is an English language magazine owned and published by Research House of Asia (RHA) Media. The magazine is all about celebrating beautiful stories of successful businesses, people, and inspiring lifestyles across the entire fabric of Asian life.
Present at the occasion were ministers, members of the royal family, chief executive officers (CEOs) of reputed companies, business owners, and many more.

Nepali workers to resume to go Malaysia for foreign employment

The agreement between Nepal and Malaysia today has re-opened the prospect for Nepali migrant workers to go to Malaysia for foreign employment, though after a long gap.
The joint working group (JWG) meeting of officials from both the countries which began in Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia on September 10, has reached an agreement to open the channel for Nepali workers to go to Malaysia for employment, confirmed the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security (MoLESS). “We agreed to resume the stalled process of labour supply from Nepal to Malaysia,” the ministry official said.
Earlier, the meeting was expected to facilitate and give momentum to the stalled process of labour supply to Malaysia. Authorities from the two governments signed a 10-point deal after the conclusion of a two-day meeting of the JWG in the Malaysian capital.
Although both the countries had reached a bilateral labour agreement in October, some technical issues remained to be finalised, which has delayed the resumption of the Nepali migrant workers to Malaysia. The October agreement between Nepal and Malaysia had relieved Nepali workers of all expenses, including recruitment service charges, airfare, visa fees, medical check-ups and security screening costs, all of which Malaysia-bound workers were required to pay earlier. But the agreement has yet to be implemented due to various hurdles, including one related to the medical examination of outbound workers.
The Malaysian government is now ready to address the issue of medical test, which was one of the contesting issues between the two sides, the ministry said, adding that Nepal has agreed to resume medical tests through existing 36 health institutions. “Out of 122 listed institutions, remaining 86 will be soon approved.”
The Malaysian team will also visit Nepal in November to finalise some remaining technical details. According to the agreement, the Malaysian team will inspect 86 health institutions – out of 122 enlisted by the Nepal government – to include them on a list of authorised medical examination facilities.
A seven-member team from Nepal – that went to Kuala Lumpur – is led by head of Labour Relation and Social Protection Section at the ministry Ram Prasad Ghimire, and comprises representatives from the Foreign Ministry, Law Ministry and Nepali Embassy in Malaysia. The supply of Nepali migrant workers to Malaysia has been halted since last May after the government cracked down on Immigration Security Clearance and One Stop Centre that had been levying additional charges on Nepali migrants.
Malaysia has been one of the preferred labour destinations for Nepali migrant workers until the government imposed a ban – after its findings that Malaysia-bound workers were forced to pay additional money illegally for a private Malaysian company established in Kathmandu – on its citizens going to Malaysia for jobs fifteen months ago.
Malaysia’s closure has also reflected in the country’s foreign employment sector as the number of workers migrating abroad dwindled significantly last year. In the fiscal year 2018-19, some 42,146 Nepali workers left for work in Malaysia. The falling number of Nepali migrant workers to Malaysia is going to bleed the remittance inflow sooner than later.
Despite the announcement of resumption of the recruitment process, officials of the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA) said that it is likely to take a few more months before workers start leaving for jobs. 

Nepali migrant workers may resume Malaysian employment

Nepali migrant workers will soon start going to Malaysia after almost 14 months as the two governments have come closer to an agreement.
A Labour Ministry team is visiting Kuala Lumpur for the final deal on September 11 for a two-day discussion as the Malaysian authorities positively responded to Nepal's demand concerning medical centers, informed the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security.
Every prospective worker from Nepal must undergo health checkup prior to their departure from the Malaysian government prescribed medical centres. But the dispute over prescribed medical centres has created confusion that made Nepal government stop sending Nepali migrant workers to Malaysia.
However, a note verbale – sent by the Embassy of Malaysia in Kathmandu to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday – reads that Malaysia will consider all 122 medical centers proposed by the Nepal government to perform BMS screening process for recruitment to Malaysia ‘in the future as long as they fulfill the criteria and requirements set by the Malaysian government’.
The Malaysian government has recognised only 36 of the total 122 medical centers proposed by Nepal to conduct mandatory medical test now. “… the 36 medical centers will continue to perform the BMS screening process for recruitment to Malaysia on the basis that these medical centers have been equipped with BMS; have been audited annually by the Government of Malaysia through the Embassy of Malaysia and Bestinet Sdn Bhd and have been certified by the Ministry of Health of Nepal and Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security of Nepal to conduct medication examination on Nepali going abroad for work,” reads the Note Verbale.
“The Government of Malaysia is of the view that the decision will ensure no further delay to the resumption of recruitment process to Malaysia that continue to be suspended by the Government of Nepal even after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the government of Malaysia and the Government of Nepal on the Recruitment, Employment and Repatriation of Workers on 29 October 2018,” the note further reads.
Malaysia is one of the largest labour destination countries for Nepal, with about 1.1 Nepali migrant workers currently working there. Around 130,000 Nepali migrant workers go to Malaysia each year, according to the data of Department of Labour.
According to an official at the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security, the ministry is preparing agendas to present during Nepal and Malaysia the joint working group (JWG) meeting on labour migration on September 10 and 11 in Kuala Lumpur.
The agreement – between Nepal and Malaysia – that ensured recruitment of Nepali migrant workers in Malaysia at zero cost has not come into effect due to lack of a proper mechanism and structure to facilitate recruiting process. According to the agreement, both governments had agreed to call a meeting of the JWG to review the progress and plan on future steps to be taken.
The supply of Nepali workers to Malaysia has been halted since last May after the government cracked down on Immigration Security Clearance and One Stop Centre that had been levying additional charges on Nepali migrants. Though the two governments signed a bilateral labour pact in October, the outflow of Nepali migrant workers to Malaysia is still uncertain due to delay in finalising medical-related issues by both governments.

Ministry selects 99 health centres for migrants going to Malaysia

Out of 290 proposals under the criteria set by the Malaysian government, the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security (MoLESS) today has selected some 99 health check-up centres for foreign job aspirants, who wishes to go to Malaysia.
Along with the health check-up centres in the Valley, the ministry has also selected health some 12 check-up centres outside the Valley including in Kaski, Jhapa, Dhanusha, Sunsari, Banke, Chitwan, Dang and Kailali.
Earlier, migrants were receiving their health certificates from only 39 check-up centres that were authorised by the government of Malaysia. The dispute of the health centre has blown out of proportion that has stopped the outflow of Nepali migrant workers to Malaysia in recent months. After the government cracked down on Immigration Security Clearance and One Stop Centre that had been levying additional charges on Nepali migrants for obtaining health certificates, the government had stopped sending workers to Malaysia since last May.
Though, Nepal and Malaysia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the bilateral labour agreement last October, the process to send workers to Malaysia has not resumed yet.
Though the ministry claims that it has brought the new policy for Malaysia-bound workers to break the monopoly of some health check-up centres – operating for a long period of time – the opposition blamed the government for disrupting the outflow of the Nepali migrant workers to Malaysia, the first choice of the Nepali migrants. But the government claimed that it has finalised the list of the health check-up institutions on the basis of the Malaysian government’s new health standard guideline that clarifies the medical requirements for migrant workers.

Labour issue with Malaysia to be sorted out within a month

A joint-technical team of the governments of Nepal and Malaysia is expected to meet within one month to sort out issues hindering the resumption of supply of labour force from Nepal to the most preferred labour destination of the Nepali migrant workers.
According to Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security (MoLESS), the two countries have agreed to resolve existing issues through a joint-technical committee meeting and resume worker supply to Malaysia as soon as possible. “Though the joint-technical committee meeting has been planned, we are yet to fix the date, but it will be within a month,” according to the ministry that has been trying hard to resume the Nepali migrant worker supply to Malaysia since last May.
The supply of workers to Malaysia has been halted after the government cracked down on Immigration Security Clearance and One Stop Centre blaming them for levying additional charges on Nepali migrant workers.
Though the two governments had inked bilateral labour pact last October, the outflow of Nepali migrant workers to Malaysia – that host the largest recorded Nepali migrants – is still uncertain. The government had also started issuing work permits for those who have already received the ‘calling visas’ from April but not significant number of workers could get the easy passage to Malaysia, despite the labour pact due to inability of Nepal government to finalise health institutions to be allowed to conduct health checkups of workers.
Though, the government has finalised the list of 51 health and medical institutions – few weeks ago – responsible to conduct the health check-up of Nepali migrant workers aspiring to go for foreign employment, the outflow to Malaysia is yet to resume.

Malaysian employer to bear all costs of Nepali migrants

Nepal and Malaysia today agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that will relieve Nepali workers from paying fees for jobs in Malaysia. "The Malaysian employment companies will bear all the necessary expenses of Nepali migrant workers now," according to the Nepali embassy in Malaysia. "The agreement will be the first such deal between the two countries in 14 years after Malaysia opened its doors to Nepali migrant workers."
The meeting between the officials of both countries at Malaysia’s Ministry of Human Resources in Putrajaya today will not only be the first such formal agreement, but the document will also resume the labour migration of Nepali workers to Malaysia which has been disrupted since mid-May, according to acting Nepali ambassador to Malaysia Kumar Raj Kharel. "Nepal had previously pushed for such understanding in 2009, 2010 and 2013," he said, adding that Malaysia had shared a draft of the labour agreement in August, following Nepal’s suspension of the departure of Nepali workers to Malaysia.
Kharel said the agreement – that includes the provision like 24-hour insurance security for the workers, payment for a two-way ticket by the employer, and compensation to workers and their families in case of accidents – will be signed by ministers of both countries.
Likewise, Nepal has also proposed an annual review of the workers’ salary, he added.
A three member Nepali delegation – led by joint secretary at the Labour Ministry Krishna Gyawali, chief of South East Asia Division of Foreign Ministry Tapas Adhikari and joint secretary at the Law Ministry Kabindra Gautam – had left for Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday to hold discussions and finalise the MoU on a bilateral labour agreement between the two countries.
According to the Malaysian Immigration Department, it hosts a total of 385,000 documented Nepali workers currently, making Nepal the second largest supplier of foreign labour force.

Nepal, Malaysia prepare to sign MoU

Malaysia and Nepal are drawing up a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on various issues including streamlining the recruitment of workers, said Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S Subramaniam.
The memorandum, he said, is expected to be finalised by next year.
Speaking after a discussion with Labour and Transport Management (MoLTM) Minister Mohamad Aftab Alam in Kuala Lumpur, he said that there were 175,810 Nepalis working in the manufacturing sector in Malaysia.
Alam led a delegation to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Nepal and Malaysia.
Dr Subramaniam said that Nepal had also requested that the number of maids from their country to Malaysia be increased.
"There are 84 maids from Nepal at present," Subramaniam said, adding that Malaysia has no objection but it has to make sure the maids are trained well.
The Malaysian minister was very happy with the good bilateral relations between the two countries. "There are many Nepali workers in Malaysia and we hope they would be given opportunity to work in other sectors including in the health sector,” he said.

NRB prepares to issue Foreign Employment Savings Bond

Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) is planning to issue the Foreign Employment Savings Bond targetting the Nepali citizens working abroad.
This bond will be sold only to the Nepali citizens working in North Korea, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, at present, said the central bank. Each bond will yield 9.75 per cent of interest and the issuing agency will get the commission of 0.25 per cent of the total amount while floating the primary issue.
The NRB has asked for the applications from licensed remittance service providers to work as an agent in the foreign countries to undertake the trading of this particular foreign employment bond. Only those remittance service providers that have a valid licence to operate its business in those any one or all of the five countries are allowed to apply.
The central bank spokesperson Gopal Kafle said that the Foreign Employment Bond will be able to bring the money earned by foreign employees in the formal channels. According to Kafle, "the workers can be able to earn higher interest from the purchase of this bond."
"This bond will help achieve multiple targets like it will help in increasing capital inflow to the nation and the cash will come through proper channels instead of going through hundis and other informal channels,” he said adding that due to some procedural technicalities the central bank has been little late. "But we are hopeful that the bonds will be sold in the primary market before the end of the fiscal year,” he added.
The Foreign Employment Bond (FEB) visualised in the budget for the fiscal year 2009-10 had targetted to collect Rs 7 billion. However, it seems the target has to be revised and the bond worth Rs 1 billion will be sold till the end of the fiscal year. The budget has promised to utilise remittance in productive sector. However, the fiscal year coming to an end in two months.
"The bond will be utilised to develop big projects,” said Purna Chandra Bhattrai, joint secretary of Ministry of Labour and Transport Management (MoLTM), who is also the member of FEB committee. "The committee has suggested the government to offer 9.75 per cent interest rate."
"As the banks and financial institutions are offering higher interest than offered by the FEB, we have to revise it," he said adding that conditions of tax rebate will also come in action plan.
"It will come soon after implementing process will be selected,” Bhattarai added. Bank and financial institutions will get 0.25 per cent commission when selling the bond.
Foreign Employment Promotion Board (FEPB) has conducted series of consultation meetings with banks, financial companies and remittance companies to implement the bond. However, its already the 11th month of the current fiscal year and the bond issuance might take another couple of months making it an ambitious and yet another paper-plan of the government. Around 1.2 million Nepalis are working in South Korea, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar. The government is targeting around 10 to12 per cent of migrant workers to sell the bond.

Corporate travel to go up

Corporate travel is likely to grow by 10-15 per cent in Asia this year as business activities improve from last year's sharp falls, a major air ticketing and reservations firm said.
Singapore-based Abacus International said the recovery will be gradual because most the austerity measures and travel policies implemented during the global economic downturn are likely to remain.
"As businesses resume to the 'new normal', we should also see an upward adjustment in travel budgets as business activities improve in a more thriving economic climate," said Abacus vice-president for marketing Brett Henry.
"We are expecting to see a gradual 10-15 per cent growth in corporate travel in 2010, especially in traditional corporate travel markets like Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong," he said in a statement.
Business travel declined by 15-20 per cent last year and the amount spent during these trips dropped between 25 and 40 per cent, Henry said.
Despite the downturn, overall bookings for Abacus shrank a narrower-than-expected one per cent in 2009 from the year before, thanks to a pickup starting from the second half. Emerging markets in Central Asia as well as Nepal, Bangladesh and South Korea are seen as key growth areas.
"There is certainly a strong sense of renewed energy and vibrancy in the market as the new year starts," Abacus president and chief executive Robert Bailey told reporters.
Abacus meanwhile said that the majority of Asian travel companies have yet to catch up with the use of Facebook and other online social media tools in their marketing strategies.
Asian travel agents should also make full use of mobile technology applications to reach customers, Abacus said.

Malaysia reduces foreign labour forces

Major Nepali labour destination market Malaysia has shed a huge number jobs of as it is hit due to the financial crisis. More than 26,000 people have lost their jobs in Malaysia so far this year as the economic slowdown forced employers to cut back, reported a news agency Bernama today.
Malaysian Employers' Federation executive director Shamsuddin Bardan told Bernama he expected further job losses in the coming weeks. He said a $16.2 billion stimulus package unveiled earlier this month had not provided immediate incentive for companies to retain their workers. The blue-collar Nepali job-holders are among the worst hit in the East Asian country that had seen a boom in the construction sector in the past years.
The Malaysian government has slashed work permit approvals for foreign workers by almost 70 per cent this year and cancelled work visas of 55,000 Bangladeshi workers after unions said the situation for Malaysians was bleak enough.
In January, the Malaysian government has also banned the hiring of new foreign workers in the manufacturing and services sectors after a report forecast 45,000 Malaysians would lose their jobs in the next few months.
Malaysia is one of Asia's largest importers of labour and has an estimated 2.2 million foreign workers who are the mainstay of the plantation and manufacturing sectors. There are around 4,00,000 Nepalis in Malaysia. The country slipped from second position to fourth as a top Nepali labour destination market. Only 1,509 Nepalis migrant workers reached Malaysia in Falgun. Qatar, as usual ranked first, with 5,177 Nepalis going to work in the Gulf country.
According to the Nepal's Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), a total of 13,743 Nepalis left for nearly four dozens countries between mid-Feb and mid-March, 296 less than the number the previous month. Around 14,039 people left for foreign employment in Falgun (between mid-January and mid-February).
Nearly 9,758 Nepalis -- 9304 male and 454 female -- got prior permission last month. Likewise, 3,025 migrant workers left Nepal through individual sources. A slight change in the pattern of Nepali migrant workers was seen in DoFE data. The number of Nepalis going to non-preferred destinations increased in Falgun.

GLOBAL CRISIS-3: Fewer workers Malaysia-bound

Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) data reveal that the number of Nepali migrant workers leaving for Malaysia -- the second most preferred destination -- has dropped in the seventh month of this fiscal year.
The number of workers leaving for Malaysia dropped to 1,553 during the month in comparison to 2,873 a month earlier. "The decrease in number is due to the Malaysian government's recent decision not to take in any foreign migrant workers, especially in the manufacturing and service sectors, from January," said Foreign Employment Association of Nepal (FEAN) president Tilak Ranabhat. On January 10, the Malaysian government put a freeze on the intake of foreign workers due to global financial crisis.
However, Nepalis already working in Malaysia will not be affected due to the East Asian country's decision. "The interests of Nepalis working in Malaysia will not be overlooked," Nepal's ambassador to Malaysia Dr Rishi Raj Adhikari said, adding that Nepal has accepted that Malaysia will let demand and supply dictate wages.
The important thing is that recruitment will be done fairly, with all sides -- workers, employers and recruiting agents -- protected, according to him.
There are about 3,00,000 Nepalis working in Malaysia, most of them in the construction and agriculture sectors and a few in service and other sectors -- making Nepalis one of the largest foreign workforces in Malaysia.
Nepal started sending workers to Malaysia, though through private manpower agencies, since 2001. The two governments have agreed on minimum wage, which was set at RM600 ($167) a month.
Adhikari, who was posted in Malaysia after the Maoist-led government came to power last April, said that the Nepali embassy in Malaysia is keenly watching the economic scenario there as Malaysia is hit by the global financial crisis.
However, in total the number of Nepali migrant workers leaving for foreign employment has increased by eight per cent during the current period compared to Poush month. According to data, a total of 18,715 workers left for different foreign job destinations in the seventh month of this fiscal year, up from 17,300 in the sixth month.

GLOBAL CRISIS-1: Out-of-work migrant workers apparent return spells doom

The global economic crisis heightens the potential for social unrest back at home when thousands of Nepali migrant workers suddenly out of work return home and demand government to take swift and decisive action.
"The flood of unemployed returning migrants could poses big challenges to social stability," said Ganesh Gurung, a social scientist, adding, "Nepal may have social unrest, only if 10 per cent of the total 2.5 million migrant workers return."
After work started drying up in Malaysia, Qatar and Dubai -- key destinations of Nepali migrant workers -- the government is also worried. It has asked its envoys to the affected countries to get first-hand information. However, they seem to sound more optimistic that the crisis may not impact Nepali workers, more than 80 per cent of whom are involved in the construction sector.
A six-year boom in Dubai that turned sand dunes into a glittering metropolis, creating the world's tallest building, its biggest shopping mall and, some say, a shrine to unbridled capitalism, is grinding to a halt forcing Nepali construction workers to return home.
However, Arjun Bahadur Thapa, Nepal's ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), cited the UAE government's stimulus package of over $40 billion -- that is not related to job creation -- and claimed that the construction sector was not panicking.
Still, the demand has been continuously dropping. In December 2008 the Nepali embassy in the UAE received a labour demand of 1,129 but in January the demand dropped to 813 proving Thapa wrong.
"In 2008, the demand for Nepali workers totalled 37,704 and in 2007 it was 35,131 -- including construction sector, security and others," Thapa said.
But Dubai, one of seven states that make up the UAE, is in crisis. The real estate bubble that propelled the frenetic expansion of Dubai on the back of borrowed cash and speculative investment has burst.
Half of all the UAE's construction projects, totalling $582 billion, have either been put on hold or cancelled, leaving a trail of half-built towers on the outskirts of the city stretching into the desert.
Among the casualties is the tower Donald Trump promised would be the ultimate in luxury, a $100 billion resort complex by the beach, and four huge theme parks and an artificial island developed by the state company Nakheel.
The banks have stopped lending and the stock market has plunged by 70 per cent. "Perhaps those who suffer most are construction workers from the South Asian subcontinent, who have carried out perilous work on building sites earning as little as £70 a month," according to a report.
Dubai, which has barely a trickle of oil in comparison, is projecting a 42 per cent increase in public spending on infrastructure projects, to compensate for vanishing private investment.
Low-paid Asian workers, including Nepalis who toil long days to build the skyscrapers of Dubai have become the latest victims of the global financial crisis as companies run short of business and money.
For many years, the Gulf emirate was a magnet for South Asian workers who fed the booming economy with cheap manpower -- from cleaners and gardeners to skilled and unskilled builders.
A report issued earlier this month showed that $582 billion worth of building projects in the UAE, of which Dubai is a part, had been put on hold due to the slowdown. That was 45 per cent of the total.
Six years of spectacular growth in the UAE construction sector, mainly in Dubai, absorbed hundreds of thousands of workers, mostly from South Asia. That had a knock-on effect, creating further opportunities for migrants. But the financial crisis, mainly in construction and related industries, is reversing that trend, forcing foreign workers to go home.
Even for labourers who were brought to the UAE on a work visa to satisfy the needs of the once-booming economy, many are receiving the pink slip. The companies told them not to come back until they called.
"The companies tell the workers that they do not have much work and that there is shortage of money," Thapa said adding that In the past, workers were not taking vacations, even after four years of continuous work as there was a huge work load till the immediate past.
"It appears some of the unpaid 'vacations' are simply a way of getting rid of people without having to pay them off," the Nepali envoy said adding but the embassy has suggested them to contact embassy, if any such proposal is received. Being market based economy the UAE government do not interfere in the private sector’s decisions making the Nepali migrant workers more vulnerable to be laid off.

Number game
KATHMANDU: There are 1,25,277 Nepalis in the UAE, according to the official data. Equal number of Nepalis are in the UAE unofficially. Till September 10, 2008, the UAE had over 1.5 million Indians, 0.3 million Philippines and 1,25,277 nepalis, informed Nepali ambassador to the UAE Arjun Bahadur Thapa. Majority of Nepalis are in construction sector and very few are in security, service sector (hotel) and some are drivers. The Nepalis in UAE send hone back a total of Rs 4.28 billion remittance in 2006 and in 2007 they sent Rs 4.49 billion.

From desert to builders' paradise
DUBAI: Dubai was turned from a desert backwater into one of the world's most awe-inspiring cities in less than 50 years. Its ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, is determined to make Dubai the global centre for finance, leisure and tourism. "In the race for excellence, there is no finish line," he said, and Dubai has grown exponentially into the desert, sky and sea. When its artificial Palm Islands -- Jumeriah, Jebel Ali and Deira -- are complete, they will have added 320 miles to Dubai's Persian Gulf coastline.
A tax haven, Dubai has encouraged foreigners to join the building frenzy -- the native Emirati make up less than 20 per cent of the population. The city hosts some of the planet's most spectacular buildings, as well the tallest -- the Burj Dubai -- which reached 818 metres in January. But it has also become known for its conspicuous consumption. It uses more water per capita than anywhere else -- a costly exercise when it comes from the sea. It boasts the 'seven star' hotel Burj Al Arab, the recently opened Dubai Mall, one of the world's largest, and, on the edge of the desert, a 22,500-sq-metre ski resort. -- The Guardian

Nepalis migrant workers abroad are vulnerable

The experts and diplomats today said that foreign employment was not a long-term solution.
Speaking at a seminar on 'Global Financial Recession and Its Impact on Foreign Employment' organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Transport Management, diplomats were of the view that global recession had hit albeit less the major countries where there is large concentration of Nepali migrant workers.
Nepali ambassadors from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Israel, Republic of Korea and Malaysia presented first-hand information about these countries and the condition of Nepali migrant workers there.
Inaugurating the seminar, Minister for Labour and Transport Management Lekhraj Bhatta said Nepali youths are compelled to go out for foreign employment due to lack of employment opportunities here at home.
The envoys giving the first hand account of these countires highlighted that the Nepalis missions abroad needs to be strenghtened to tackle such labour problems. "Construction sector in the most of the countries in the Gulf and Malaysis is hit by the recession and majority of Nepalis are employed in this sector making them more vulnerable," they opined.

Outbound worker torrent slows, falls from 656 per day to 400 per day

The tide of Nepali migrant workers leaving for various destinations abroad has ebbed after the government stopped issuing work permits for Malaysia and other countries also reduced the number of Nepali unskilled migrant workers. According to the Department of Foreign Employment (DoEF), in the month of Poush, the number of Nepali foreign job-seekers dropped to 12,313. It was was 18,685 in Mangsir and 20,543 a month earlier in Kartik.
Till couple of months ago, 656 Nepalis used to leave for foreign jobs but now only 400 Nepalis -- that is 256 less per day -- leave for the foreign job.
Taking cue from the global economic meltdown, the Gulf countries -- major markets for Nepali migrant workers -- have reduced the workforce strength especially unskilled hands and those working in manufacturing and service sectors.
Labour expert Dr Chiranjivi Nepal said the government should tackle this issue diplomatically. "Nepali diplomatic agnecies in those countries have failed totally," he alleged. Dr Nepal also suggested that they could use the laid-off workforce for reconstruction. "The capital expenditure has been very less this year compared to last year," he said adding that if the government has positive intentions it should start mega projects and employ Nepali youths.
Instead, the government is scouring for new destinations like Oman and Libya to mitigate the crisis. "What can be more risky?" Dr Nepal said. Libya and Oman both have 30 per cent and 15 per cent unemployment. Besides, there is no Nepali mission in either country.
Japan is another lucrative market to where the government has started the process for sending trainee workers. "But this also is for a limited number of semi-skilled and trainee workers, not unskilled ones," said Dr Nepal.
The drop in number of migrant workers will hit remittance which in turn will put more pressure on government exchequer. The impact of the drop in number of outbound workers will be on next year's remittance as the first half of this fiscal year has already passed. Remittance is a lifeline for the Nepali economy.
"In the long run, it might have an impact," opined Atish Shrestha, country manager of Western Union, one of the major remittance companies. "Remittance from the US and the European countries has seen nominal drop," he said adding that till December, the transaction size was around $1100 per month but in January it came down to $800.

Top 10 destination
KATHMANDU: Malaysia tops the list of top 10 destinations in proportion to the number of Nepali migrant workers, according to official figures. Qatar comes second followed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Quwait.
Malaysia -- 4,26,778
Qatar -- 3,50,453
Saudi Arabia -- 2,31,444
United Arab Emirates -- 1,48,249
Quwait -- 13,420
Bahrain -- 11,220
South Korea -- 6,378
Hong Kong -- 4,213
Oman -- 3,525
Israel -- 2,650

More Qatar visas
DOHA: The government of Qatar has approved 1,12,000 working visas for Nepali workers for 2009. According to Dr Surya Nath Mishra, Nepali ambassador to Qatar, 1,64,000 more visas are in than pipeline. "If so many Nepali workers come here, they would be the largest foreign community here," Dr Mishra said after meeting Qatari Labour Minister Dr Sultan Bin Hasan. He said his meeting with Dr Hasan's on Tuesday was fruitful and cordial. "The Qatari government has clarified that the global meltdown would not affect either the country or Nepali workers working here," the Nepali envoy said. -- RSS

Nepalis' plight
DOHA: Poor implementation of the government's decision to stop Nepali domestic workers from working in Qatar has led to dire consequences. Nepali women continue to enter this country and some of them meet an unimagined fate. Earlier, the plight of Nepali domestic workers was an unheard of matter in Qatar, with only numerous of cases of exploitation and deceiving reported in Saudi Arabia. More women, after finding themselves at the receiving end of exploitation and cheating, are taking refuge at Nepali embassy here. In recent times, the number of their arrival in Doha is on the rise with the Nepali Embassy rescuing eight, including two on Friday alone, in the last one month. The duo -- Asha Bhujel and Anita Nepali -- were lured by Nepali agents on the pretext of good jobs and landed here via Mumbai. Meanwhile, 10 Nepali workers were killed in separate incidents in Qatar in January, according to the embassy. . Most of them died in road accidents, it said. The embassy added that incidences of Nepali workers dying in accidents in this Gulf country are on the rise. – RSS

Laid off migrant workers to be compensated

Migrant workers returning from the Gulf countries and Malaysia due to job cuts there will get compensation."The compensation can be paid after a worker provides enough proof that the lay-off was due to global economic recession," said Sthaneshwor Devkota, executive director of the Employment Promotion Board (EPB).
The recruiting company or Nepali embassy in that country should give in writing that the worker had to return due to economic recession and not due to other reasons, he said adding that the compensation will be borne half by the government and half by the man-power agency that had sent the worker.
The government will provide compensation from the welfare fund set up to protect the migrant workers' rights. "Around Rs 24.5 million is put aside from the welfare fund for compensation," he said adding that if a worker returns after six months, 40 per cent of the expenses would be compensated. Similarly, if a worker returns after a year, 25 per cent of the expenses would be compensated.
However, a three-member committee headed by Devkota, an undersecretary from the Foreign Ministry and the president of Nepal Foreign Employment Agencies' Association Tilak Ranabhat will decide on the compensation claims.Meanwhile, a study team headed by Minister for Transport Management and Labour Lekh Raj Bhatta will leave for Sri Lanka and the Philippines to study the crisis management on how thwy are coping with lay off of their migrany workers. Another team headed by Labour Secretary will visit Dubai, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to study the ground realities.Last friday, the government stopped issuing new work permits to Nepali jobseekers for Malaysia until further notice following an announcement by the Malaysian government to stop recruitment of foreign workers.
Qatar has also reduced its foreign workforce after it felt the heat of economic recession. The Gulf country and the East Asian country have more concentration of Nepali workforce, especially in manufacturing and service sectors.
The suspension of new work permits for Malaysia will hit remittance that had kept the Nepali economy afloat even during the conflict period. Of the total remittance, that from Saudi Arabia tops the list followed by Qatar and Malaysia. The total contribution of remittance to the GDP is 17.4 per cent. If remittance drops by half, the forex and foreign trade will also be hit. The spiralling effect will then hit financial institutions.
Every month, 3,500 Nepali job-seekers used to leave for Malaysia. Of the total foreign workforce in Malaysia, Nepalis comprise a significant 25 per cent. There are 2.1 million foreign workers in Malaysia, of which 0.4 million are Nepali.
The Nepali mission in Malaysia had requested the MoLTM not to issue new permits for Malaysia due to job insecurity for workers. More than 50,000 Nepalis left for Malaysia through official channels during 2007-08.