Korea renews labor pact with Nepal
REPUBLICA
KATHMANDU, Aug 16: South Korea has renewed labor agreement with Nepal which will facilitate the former to receive Nepali workers under Employment Permit System (EPS) for another three months. The renewal of agreement has revived hopes of thousands of aspirants who qualified for the Korean job but have not received job offer so far.
The renewal became possible after the Korean government gave its nod to the ´bridge agreement´ that Nepal proposed a few days back to continue with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which expired on July 23.
“We have received the agreement letter for bridge agreement. We will forward it to the Korean government after endorsing it immediately,” said Purna Chandra Bhattarai, joint secretary at the Ministry of Labor and Transport Management.
The three-month bridge agreement will terminate on October 23.
“We will sign another two-year agreement with Korea to send the workers under EPS before this bridge agreement expires. The cabinet has already given authority to the MoLTM to sign the new pact,” Bhattarai added.
The MoLTM had sent a proposal to renew the MoU signed between the two countries on July 23, 2007 to secure employment for Nepali workers in agriculture, fishery, manufacturing, service and construction sector in Korea.
Korea, which currently employs 195,000 foreign workers including 3,000 Nepalis, has already signed labor pacts with 15 countries to employ foreign workers under the EPS, which allows domestic employers to hire migrant works to fulfill the labor deficit. Under the EPS, Nepali workers can earn a monthly salary of around $970 to $1000 depending on their employer companies. Korea had enacted the EPS in 2004.
Under the EPS, Nepali workers between the age of 18 and 39 with proficiency in Korean language and having no criminal and overstay record can be eligible for Korean jobs. A total of 6,768 youths had passed Korean Language Test, a crucial criterion to qualify for Korean jobs. Twelve Nepali workers are leaving for Korea on August 31 to work in eight different companies.
More than 6500 Nepali blue-collar job aspirants have been selected and name of those job aspirants have been sent to Korea´s Human Resource Department (HRD), which arrange job contracts as per the demands by Korean employers.
Meanwhile, Minister for Labor and Transport Management Mohammad Aftab Alam is leaving for Israel on Tuesday as a part of the government´s effort to reopen Israel for Nepali jobseekers.
Israel has stalled issuing fresh visas to Nepali workers for the past five months, expressing serious objection over existing malpractices in the process.
Published on 2009-08-16 01:00:01
REPUBLICA
KATHMANDU, Aug 16: South Korea has renewed labor agreement with Nepal which will facilitate the former to receive Nepali workers under Employment Permit System (EPS) for another three months. The renewal of agreement has revived hopes of thousands of aspirants who qualified for the Korean job but have not received job offer so far.
The renewal became possible after the Korean government gave its nod to the ´bridge agreement´ that Nepal proposed a few days back to continue with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which expired on July 23.
“We have received the agreement letter for bridge agreement. We will forward it to the Korean government after endorsing it immediately,” said Purna Chandra Bhattarai, joint secretary at the Ministry of Labor and Transport Management.
The three-month bridge agreement will terminate on October 23.
“We will sign another two-year agreement with Korea to send the workers under EPS before this bridge agreement expires. The cabinet has already given authority to the MoLTM to sign the new pact,” Bhattarai added.
The MoLTM had sent a proposal to renew the MoU signed between the two countries on July 23, 2007 to secure employment for Nepali workers in agriculture, fishery, manufacturing, service and construction sector in Korea.
Korea, which currently employs 195,000 foreign workers including 3,000 Nepalis, has already signed labor pacts with 15 countries to employ foreign workers under the EPS, which allows domestic employers to hire migrant works to fulfill the labor deficit. Under the EPS, Nepali workers can earn a monthly salary of around $970 to $1000 depending on their employer companies. Korea had enacted the EPS in 2004.
Under the EPS, Nepali workers between the age of 18 and 39 with proficiency in Korean language and having no criminal and overstay record can be eligible for Korean jobs. A total of 6,768 youths had passed Korean Language Test, a crucial criterion to qualify for Korean jobs. Twelve Nepali workers are leaving for Korea on August 31 to work in eight different companies.
More than 6500 Nepali blue-collar job aspirants have been selected and name of those job aspirants have been sent to Korea´s Human Resource Department (HRD), which arrange job contracts as per the demands by Korean employers.
Meanwhile, Minister for Labor and Transport Management Mohammad Aftab Alam is leaving for Israel on Tuesday as a part of the government´s effort to reopen Israel for Nepali jobseekers.
Israel has stalled issuing fresh visas to Nepali workers for the past five months, expressing serious objection over existing malpractices in the process.
Published on 2009-08-16 01:00:01
