Nepal to hold consultation with Saudi Arabia for Labour Agreement

A three-member technical team headed by Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE), Ram Kumar Acharya, arrived Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh on Sunday night in this connection.

The team is visiting here at the invitation of the Saudi government.

Ramesh Prasad Khanal, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Joint-Secretary of the MoLE Govindamani Bhurtel are also in the Nepali team who are to hold discussions with the secretarial team of the Saudi’s Ministry of Labour, according to Acting Nepali ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ananda Prasad Sharma.

Issues as proposed Labor Agreement between Nepal and Saudi Arabia and import of ordinary labourer and maids among others are likely to be deliberated during the consultations.

The technical team of the both countries are also expected to prepare the final draft of the Labour Agreement and determine the day when the agreement will be signed.

Many Nepali migrant workers in Saudi country were reported facing various sorts of inconvenience and forms of exploitation like overworking without due payment, no proper job as mentioned in their contract among others here in absence of labourer-friendly laws this gulf country and in lack of proper Labour Agreement with Saudi Arabia.

The Agreement is thus of paramount important in securing overall well being of the Nepali migrant workers in Saudi Arabia.