KATHMANDU, Sept 22: Prime Minister Balendra Shah held telephone talk with his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim on Tuesday morning.
During the conversation, PM Shah highlighted the need to make foreign employment between Nepal and Malaysia more dignified, transparent and free from exploitation.
Shah underscored the need to address the problems of syndicates and intermediaries in Malaysia’s foreign employment sector, saying that such practices were detested by him and his government, according to Deepa Dahal, the Prime Minister’s Press and Research Expert.
PM Shah also made it clear that such 'impractical' and 'unjust practices' could not be accepted to continue and thus called for joint efforts by both countries to find a permanent solution.
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"We despise syndicates and intermediaries and such practices are unacceptable under any circumstances. They have adversely affected workers," PM Shah told his Malaysian counterpart.
"Therefore, I urge the labour ministers of both countries to hold direct talks and take necessary steps to resolve this issue once and for all," Dahal quoted PM Shah as telling his Malaysian counterpart.
Press and Research Expert Dahal further shared that Malaysian PM Ibrahim responded positively to PM Shah’s concerns and expressed that he was also against syndicates and intermediary practices in the foreign employment sector.
During the telephone talks, the Malaysian PM also expressed his commitment to instruct Malaysia’s Labour Minister to immediately coordinate with the Nepali counterpart and work toward a concrete solution to the issue.
"I am also completely against such wrongful and exploitative practices. I will immediately instruct our Labour Minister to discuss the matter with his Nepali counterpart and find a concrete solution," the Malaysian PM told PM Shah.
