Kathmandu, September 7

Nepali migrant workers in Malaysia and those planning to work in the South-east Asian nation have reasons to rejoice, especially because of two reasons — the Malaysian government’s decision on Thursday to raise the minimum wage for workers and the Nepal government’s preparations to assure the rights of its workers in Malaysia.

Amidst the government’s plan to resume the outflow of Nepali migrant workers to Malaysia after signing a labour pact with the Malaysian government, the latter has raised the minimum wage for private sector employees across the country effective from January 1 next year.

The new minimum wage for workers in Malaysia has been fixed at 1,050 ringgit per month (equivalent to Rs 29,074).

“The decision of the Malaysian government to raise the minimum wage for workers will boost the morale of thousands of Nepali migrant workers currently working in Malaysia and also encourage more workers to go to Malaysia,” informed Rohan Gurung, president of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies, adding that the government should expedite the process of inking a labour pact with Malaysia and resume the outflow of Nepali migrant workers to the destination as soon as possible.

The Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security, has invited the Malaysian minister of labour to sign the labour agreement in September-end.

“The labour pact with Malaysia will ensure the safety and security of Nepali workers and also guarantee wages and other benefits that are mentioned in the contract letters,” added Gurung.

Currently, the two governments are busy finalising the draft of the labour agreement to assure that the bilateral agreement on labour issues is signed between the two nations by end of the month.

The initial draft of the agreement proposes to supply Nepali labour force to Malaysia through the business-to-business model, under which the private sector of the two countries will engage in hiring and supplying Nepali workers to Malaysia by fulfilling the mandates of the memorandum of understanding signed between the two nations.

Meanwhile, Uddhav Prasad Rijal, spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Employment, said that the Malaysian government’s decision to raise the minimum wage for workers is a labour market-friendly policy. “We expect to resume the outflow of Nepali workers to Malaysia soon.”