June 5: The government is preparing to open new destinations for foreign employment. Organising a press conference at the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security on Sunday, the ministry officials said that the government is preparing to open up new countries for foreign employment including Iraq, which has been banned, and Germany.

Speaking at the event, Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Sharat Singh Bhandari said that the ministry is determined to deal with issues related to labor and employment with due diligence. He mentioned that the ministry is working to foreign employment sector more organized by facilitating easy access of workers to the labor market.

Stating that the challenges seen in the labor sector will be addressed in collaboration with the local level, Minister Bhandari expressed his determination to bring the foreign employer companies that do not follow the prescribed standards under the scope of action.

It was also informed on the occasion that Nepal’s embassies have been told to take the initiative and try to study the prospect of sending workers for foreign employment to the countries that have established diplomatic relations with Nepal.

The ministry said that Nepal is taking initiatives for labor agreements with Germany and Romania in the near future.

The ministry added that the situation in Iraq is not like in the past and is preparing to open it for foreign employment after evaluating the current situation. The Secretary of the Ministry, Ek Narayan Aryal, informed that work has been done to give labor permits to all the countries of the world with which diplomatic relations have been established.

 "The situation in Iraq today is not like yesterday, reconstruction works are going on in Iraq and there is a demand for workers from there, the situation in Iraq today has to be evaluated," he said.

Nepal has established diplomatic relations with 179 countries so far. However, although 111 countries are open for foreign employment, Afghanistan, Libya and Iraq have been blacklisted so that Nepalis cannot go there for foreign employment.