The Nepal government has proposed the Malaysian government sign a labour agreement for third time in two years. Despite being the largest labour destination for Nepali workers, the two countries have not signed the agreement so far.

A four-member Nepali delegation submitted the final copy of the agreement to the director deneral of the Malaysian labour department Thursday. “We’ve proposed the labour agreement between the two countries during our meeting with the deputy director general of Malaysian labour department,” said Tika Bhandari, director of the Foreign Employment Promotion Board.

In 2011, Malaysia’s labour minister had publicly declared to sign a labour agreement with Nepal on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries. But it never materialised due to disagreements over some points of the draft.

“Nepal has been trying to sign the labour pact with Malaysia right from 2007. We were very hopeful of an agreement after the minister himself announced, but some technical issues delayed the overall process,” said a ministry official who was a member of the Nepali delegation visiting Malaysia in 2011. The team was led by the then Labour Mini-ster Mohammed Aftap Alam.

The Foreign Employment Division of the Ministry of Labour and Employment completed and forwarded the final draft of the agreement to Malaysia six months ago.

“We have been repeatedly exchanging the draft. Last time, it could not take place due to elections in Malaysia. We are hopeful that it will take place this time around,” said Binod KC, director General of the Department of Foreign Employment.

According to ministry sources, some points incorporated in the draft delayed the overall endorsement of the agreement. A highly placed source said the Malaysian version of the draft had proposed direct recruitment of workers from Nepal boycotting Nepali manpower agencies. The Nepali side, however, proposed direct recruitment will take place within the limit of the Nepali laws and the Foreign Employment Act.

“The proposed draft aims to address issues related to workers’ health management, wage, insurance, social security and other concerns of workers,” said Bhandari.

Bhandari said the Malay-sian side expressed concern about increasing case of “medical defects” among workers. “Malaysian officials claim medical defects have emerged as a huge problem. They have emphasised on reducing this problem,” he said.

The Malaysian side also proposed the Nepali delegation to recruit workers through government-to-government channel. “We told them that it’s difficult, but we will finalise this issue only after an in-depth consultation with stakeholders,” said Bhandari. The Nepali delegation also inspected the work condition of Nepali workers in agricultural and plantation sectors.

The government’s latest data show Malaysia is the largest labour destination for Nepali workers with an estimated 700,000 currently at work there.

Published on: 19 June 2013 | The Kathmandu Post