A joint secretary-level delegation will be heading to Malaysia later this month to finalise details for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on migrant workers between the two countries, the Ministry of Labour and Employment said on Sunday.

The two governments had agreed on most of the points of the MoU during several previous discussions but officials said a few more provisions, including a newly introduced system of free visa and free ticket, would be incorporated into the agreement. Nepal has been pressing the Malaysian government for a labour pact since 2007.

“As we have officially scrapped the previous provision that allowed the recruiting agencies to charge aspiring Nepali migrant workers up to Rs 80,000 to go to Malaysia, it will naturally be added to the agreement,” said Minister of State for Labour Tek Bahadur Gurung, who is expected to visit Malaysia to sign the agreement after the final meeting. According to the ministry officials, the meeting will also fix the date and place of the signing.

“We plan to sign the agreement within two months. The delegation will leave for Malaysia once the Ministry of Finance approves the budget,” said a Labour Ministry official, informing that the meeting was scheduled earlier, but had to be postponed due to the devastating earthquakes of April 25 and May 12.

Nepal will sign two separate agreements on general migrant workers and domestic workers with Malaysia, according to the Labour Ministry. Nepal has already approved a guideline, allowing women above 25 years to work as domestic help abroad.

With labour agreements in place with the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain, the government has entered into an agreement with South Korea to send workers under the Employment Permit System and with Japan to send Nepali industrial trainees.

Some 3.5 million Nepalis work in the Gulf and Malaysia, according to the Department of Foreign Employment. As well as renewing the pacts with Bahrain and Qatar, the government is working on signing an agreement with Kuwait, State Minister Gurung said.

Published on: 22 June 2015 | The Kathmandu Post