Nepal and Saudi Arabia Reach Breakthrough Understanding on Labour Agreement

Nepal and Saudi Arabia have reached a crucial understanding on a long-pending labour agreement aimed at regulating the employment of Nepali workers in the Gulf nation, one of the major destinations for Nepali migrant labour alongside Malaysia.

According to the state-run national news agency RSS, the agreement in principle was struck during a sideline meeting at the International Labour Conference in Geneva between Nepal’s Minister for Labour, Employment, and Social Security, Sharat Singh Bhandari, and Saudi Arabia’s Vice Minister for International Affairs, Tariq Al-Hamdan.

According to the private secretariat of Minister Bhandari, the two sides agreed to proceed with two immediate arrangements focused on general and skilled workers—excluding domestic workers—through a skill certification program. Nepal has already endorsed the draft of the general workers' agreement and is now awaiting formal signing.

“An agreement on sending general workers to Saudi Arabia has already been finalized. Only the signing remains,” RSS quoted Minister Bhandari as saying. “Until now, Saudi Arabia had maintained that a general agreement could only be signed after reaching a deal on domestic workers. This meeting resolved to move forward with the general agreement while continuing preparatory work on the domestic workers’ draft.”

Minister Bhandari also conveyed to the Saudi delegation that Nepal’s parliamentary committee has instructed the government to prioritize a general labour agreement before concluding a deal specific to domestic workers. He further emphasized the need for a pilot project to implement the domestic workers' agreement.

Nepal has been pursuing a formal labour agreement with Saudi Arabia for several years, primarily to safeguard the rights and welfare of the large number of Nepali workers already present there. Past efforts have stalled due to differing priorities, particularly Riyadh’s insistence on separate arrangements for domestic workers.

The lack of a bilateral labour pact has long exposed Nepali workers to vulnerabilities including low wages, lack of insurance, withheld passports, and denial of basic services. According to past government reports, such issues have persisted partly due to the absence of binding agreements with destination countries.

Saudi Arabia remains one of the top destinations for Nepali migrant workers. However, most of them are employed under informal or poorly regulated conditions. Experts and labour rights advocates have for years urged the Nepal government to finalize labour pacts with major host countries to address the systemic exploitation of migrant workers.

Nepal has signed labour agreements with only a limited number of countries so far—including Qatar, UAE, South Korea, Japan, and select European nations such as the UK, Germany, and Romania—despite having opened up over 100 countries as potential destinations.