October 30: The governments of Nepal and Malaysia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on labor agreement, which has reopened opportunity for Nepali migrant workers to travel to the South East Asian nation for employment.

The government of Nepal had halted the supply of labourers to Malaysia a few months ago citing lack of labour agreement between the two countries.

Although Nepal has been sending labourers to Malaysia since 2002, this is the first time that both the countries signed the labour agreement.

Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Gokarna Bista and Malaysia’s Minister of Human Resources M Kula Segaran signed the agreement amid a function in Kathmandu, on Monday, October 29.

According to the agreement, the companies employing Nepali workers should deposit the monthly salary of the labourers in their bank accounts by the first week of every month.

Likewise, facilities like bonus and overtime should be provided as per the amount set by the Malaysian government, the agreement states.

The Nepali workers will not have to bear any amount for airfare and visa fee. Addressing a press meet, Minister Bista said that a taskforce will be formed to implement the labour agreement.