Gyan Prasad Gaire, general secretary of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA) told myrepublica.com that along with higher demands for workers, the companies are also offering good salary and benefits for workers. [break]
Demands are pouring in mainly from Gulf countries -- Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates -- and Malaysia. Employing companies had laid off workers and reduced salary and perks amid declining business opportunities due to global economic slowdown.
“It is the indication of improvement in the economies of receiving countries,” said Gaire. He further added that companies in Saudi Arabia - the largest labor market for Nepal - has increased salary to at least 600 Riyal, excluding overtime allowance and other benefits, up from 500 Riyal offered last year.
Malaysia -- another key destination -- has already approved 100,000 demands for Nepali workers and offered higher salary. Most of the Nepali blue-collar workers are employed in manufacturing, construction and service sector in Malaysia. Nepali blue-collar workers have been offered 650 Ringgit per month, exclusive of overtime and other allowances, from 550 Ringgit offered last year.
“We are not receiving a salary offer of less than 600 Qatari Riyal per month from employers. They have further increased remuneration to 800 Riyal per month and other facilities and have placed higher demands,” said Gaire.
Besides increasing demands for Nepali workers in other sectors, manpower companies said the UAE has significantly raised demands for Nepali security guards. Nepali security workers have been offered 2,000 Durham per month in the UAE.
“My company alone has received demand for 800 workers, including security guards, from the UAE as well as 1,500 from Malaysia and 200 from Saudi Arabia,” said Gaire, who is also the proprietor of Rara Employment Consultancy.
Keeping in view the rising inflation over a couple of years, the Ministry of Labor and Transport Management (MoLTM) has already initiated process for raising the minimum salary for workers leaving for Saudi Arab, Kuwait, Oman, Lebanon, the UAE, Bahrain and Malaysia. The government had a few years back set a minimum salary of $125 per month for Nepali workers.
Nepal gets 4 offers for JITCO job
Less than two weeks of the visit of high level officials of Japan International Training Cooperation Organization (JITCO) to Nepal, a Nepali company has received offer for four workers for industrial internship and training in Japan.
Mohan Krishna Sapkota, director general Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), told myrepublica.com that Siddhartha Buddha Overseas has received offers for four workers for internship and training in bakery and farming sector.
“Siddhartha Buddha Overseas has already approached us with the offer. We are in the process of verifying the authenticity of the offer before granting prior approval to the agency,” Sapkota said.
A JITCO team led by its Senior Vice Chairman Kensuke Tsuzuki had conducted orientation to Nepali manpower agencies on the procedure of sending workers and existing legal provision under the JITCO´s internship and training for foreign industrial workers.
The MoLTM has already released guidelines on JITCO´s Industrial Training Program (ITP) and Technical Internship Program (TIP) for Nepali industrial workers.
prabhakar@myrepublica.com
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