September 13: Nepal and Malaysia have agreed to implement the Labour Agreement signed between the two countries on October 29 last year. This has paved the way to resume the recruitment process of Nepali migrant workers in Malaysia, which was halted since the last 15 months.

Authorities of the two countries held a three-day meeting in Kuala Lumpur this week after which they decided to implement the landmark agreement of the past.

As per the agreement, Nepali workers can apply for jobs in Malaysia without paying any amount for the recruitment process.

Both countries have also agreed to audit the financial report of the institutions which conduct health check-up of aspiring migrant workers.

For this, a technical team of Malaysia will visit Nepal in November. The team will investigate 86 out of 122 government-listed health institutes. However, the 36 institutes which had been providing bio-medical test service for Malaysia-bound workers will not have to undergo inspection again.

Malaysia’s Human Resource Policy Department’s chief Betty Hasan and Joint-Secretary at the Ministry of Labour and Employment of Nepal, Ram Prasad Ghimire, signed the agreement on Thursday.

The government had halted sending Nepali workers to Malaysia on May 16, 2018 stating that the workers were being cheated by manpower agencies responsible for the recruitment.