Of the total of 22,000 quotas allocated to 15 sending countries, Nepal has got 4,000 job quotas for fiscal year 2010/11.[break]
“Considering the rising number of youths interested in Korean jobs, we have requested the Korean government to increase job quotas for Nepal. Moreover, we deserve more quotas as we have been declared the best sending country under the EPS,” said Purna Chandra Bhattarai, joint secretary at the Ministry of Labor and Transport Management (MoLTM), told Republica.
The Korean government had honored Nepal as the best sending country under EPS on December 23 last year, recognizing Nepal´s fast and effective sending process. Nepal had successfully reduced the duration of sending process to 57 days in 2009 from 92 days recorded a year earlier.
“On the back of good track record of Nepali workers in Korea and the highest number of aspirants for Korean job, we have requested for more quotas for this year,” Mahesh Acharya, chief of EPS-Nepal office, said.
A total of 42,142 applicants had applied for Korean Language Test (KLT) in the second week of June. The test has been scheduled for August 28 and 29.
Of the total of 6,400 workers that have signed job contract, 5,322 have already left for Korea. The Human Resources Department of Korea has included details of 6,586 Nepali youths in its job roster.
Under EPS, Nepal can send workers to South Korea in five sectors -- agriculture, fishery, construction, manufacturing and services. Korea has been sourcing workers under EPS from Nepal, Vietnam, Mongolia, Thailand, China, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan and East Timor.
Nepal had signed EPS agreement with Korea on July 23, 2007. The Korean government had introduced EPS in 2004.
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