Nepalese ambassador to Japan Dr Ganesh Yonzan told myrepublica.com on Monday that the embassy has already held a couple of meetings with senior officials of Japan´s Ministry of Trade, Economy and Industry and Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) -- a Japanese government body that works to promote mutual trade and investment with other countries -- to lobby for EPA with Nepal.
“I found Japanese officials very positive to sign the pact with Nepal. I have brought this message to Nepal and I will take formal proposal to Japan after holding talks with concerned Nepali authorities,” Yonzan, who is currently in the capital, told myrepublica.com.
Japan has already signed EPA with Indonesia and the Philippines and is all set to sign the pact with India and Thailand.
Yonzan said the EPA would pave the way for the Nepali government to send high-skilled manpower -- especially in health and information technology (IT) sector -- to Japan, besides promoting bilateral trade.
“I have seen a huge prospect of exporting Nepali doctors, nurses and caretakers in Japan. There is also a growing demand of IT professionals in Japan. The EPA with Japan can pave the way for exporting high-skilled workforce to Japan,” he added.
Yonzan has already talked with Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and other high-ranking officials and is also meeting with Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala to take formal proposal on behalf of Nepal government to Japan and held further negotiations with Japanese authorities.
Talking with myrepublica.com a few weeks ago, President of Non-resident Nepalis Association (NRNA) Dev Man Hirachan had also informed about the prospect of exporting Nepali IT professionals in Japan, which is highly dependent on Indian IT professionals.
Yonzan also informed that Nepali industrial workers can get opportunities in 114 different sectors in tourism, agriculture and industry, except fisheries, among others under the agreement with Japan International Training Cooperation Organization (JITCO). He also said effective co-ordination among government, manpower agencies and concerned non-organizations working in the field of foreign employment would be important to materialize the prospect of employing Nepali workers in Japanese enterprises under the JITCO pact.
Nepal had signed the agreement with JITCO in 2003.
“Nepali embassy in Japan will work as a facilitator to promote employment opportunities in Japan in close coordination with Nepali stakeholders,” said Yonzan.
After issuing a directive on sending Nepali workers under Industrial Training Program (ITP) or Technical Internship Program (TIP) of JITCO, Ministry of Labor and Transport Management has begun issuing certificates to 171 designated manpower agencies to send industrial trainees to Japan. Officials are hopeful that the process of sending Nepali workers to Japan will begin within a couple of months provided that the designated companies succeeded in bringing demands from Japanese employers on time.
prabhakar@myrepublica.com
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