Malaysia to hire 500,000 Nepali workers

KATHMANDU: Malaysian Home Minister Saifuddin Nasusan Ismail, who has decided to hire five lakh foreign workers immediately, will come to understand the situation of Nepali workers. Ismail is scheduled to arrive in Nepal in the first week of February.

After the labor agreement between the two countries, there was no formal visit of high official from Malaysia to Nepal.

Malaysia has introduced a ‘Foreign Worker Employment Relaxation’ scheme to attract workers from source countries for manufacturing, manufacturing, agriculture, plantation and service sectors. Malaysia has identified industrial production, manufacturing, agriculture, plantations and services as ‘sensitive’ sectors.

“Despite bringing a policy to recruit 5 lakh workers immediately, the quota of how many to be taken from Nepal has not been decided,” Nepalese Ambassador Dilli Prasad Paudel, who had a separate diplomatic meeting with the Minister of Home Affairs and Human Resources of Malaysia on Friday. ‘

Malaysia takes workers from 15 countries including Nepal. Among them, only Nepal has a labor agreement to take workers at zero cost. Among the source countries, labor supply from Vietnam and Indonesia has decreased recently.

As employment opportunities in the country are increasing, the number of Vietnamese and Indonesian citizens going to Malaysia has decreased. Nepali workers are likely to get a significant number of opportunities from Malaysia’s policy of hiring 5 lakh workers immediately.

According to Ambassador Paudel, the home minister’s visit is not only diplomatic but also very important from a strategic point of view. “The home minister’s visit will be to India and Bangladesh after Nepal,” he said. The team will also have a representative from Human Resources.

The process of hiring foreign workers, which was stopped during the Covid epidemic, started last April. Since then, nearly two lakh Nepalis have gone to Malaysia. According to the Ministry of Human Resources of Malaysia, through the Foreign Worker Centralized Management System (FWCMS), employers in sensitive sectors and its sub-sectors have been able to apply for the quota of workers they need.

Paudel said that during his visit to Nepal, the Home Minister of Malaysia will formally inform about the policies taken by the foreign workers for the welfare and safety of foreign workers. Malaysia has implemented new labor laws since September 1.

“Recently, Malaysia has changed its labor and immigration policy to take into account the interests, rights and security of workers. “Malaysia has set an agenda to make its point clear,” Paudel said, “Malaysia will have its own plan on how to bring trained security guards as security guards will be brought only from Nepal.”

Nepal has prepared to make the effective implementation of the labor agreement a major agenda. “According to the law of Malaysia to take workers at zero cost, he has entered into a labor agreement with Nepal. Zero cost seems to be implemented only in the sectors of gloves, electronics and plantations.

We believe that it should be applied in all sectors,” said an official of the Ministry of Labour, “Nepali workers in the security sector are not getting proper wages. We said that at least 3,000 ringgit should be allocated for security guards last May, we will raise the same issue this time as well.

Former Labor, Employment and Social Security Minister Gokarn Bista said that the implementation of the labor agreement should be reviewed during the visit of the Malaysian Home Minister to Nepal.

“A labor contract is not just about hiring workers, it’s not just about cost fees either. After going to Malaysia, the issues of workplace safety, treatment, insurance and social security are also important,” he said. “It will be beneficial for both countries.