KATHMANDU, May 21: In the 10 months of the current financial year 2022/23, the number of people going abroad for foreign employment has exceeded 660,000.
With two months left before the end of the financial year, the number of new labor permits and renewal of old permits for foreign employment has reached 660,255, according to the Department of Foreign Employment.
The number of people going to work abroad slowed down since the start of the pandemic but it is on the way to set a new record again this year. Due to the increased demand for labor from abroad, the number of people going to work abroad was over 70,000 in some months of this year. However, in recent months, this number has been gradually decreasing.
Tap youth potentials for domestic development
In the Nepali month of Baisakh (mid-April to mid-May), 54,457 young people have taken work permits to go abroad. Of them 4,948 are women and 49,509 are men. In the month of Chaitra (mid-March to mid-April) alone, 61,478 Nepali youth went abroad with approval for labor.
According to the Foreign Employment Department, 421,279 people have taken the new work permit (institutional and individual) till Baisakh. During this period, 244,996 people flew abroad with work permits again.
The demand for Nepali workers in Malaysia has increased this year. Although the demand for workers from Gulf countries has slowed down, the situation is not hopeless.
According to the department's data, 14,637 people took work permits for Malaysia in Baisakh. Similarly, 10,230 people received work permits for Qatar while only 9,483 people went to work in the United Arab Emirates and 8,681 people reached Saudi Arabia.
Similarly, 2,574 people have taken approval to go to South Korea and 2,110 people to Kuwait. Likewise, 1,606 Nepalis have gone to Romania, 817 to Japan, 505 to Bahrain, 635 to Poland, 460 to Cyprus, 350 to Oman and 323 to Macau.
