Great Strides
By A CORRESPONDENT
The growth of foreign employment sector has been praised for all the positive economic development – of which there are so few – in the country right now.
From macro economic stability to surging foreign exchange reserve and from poverty reduction to income distribution to rural areas, the foreign employment has managed to grab headlines every now and then.
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Nepali workers: Boosting nation's economy |
And now a new report has shown that foreign employment continues to be the biggest draw for the Nepalese youths.
The number of people leaving for overseas employment increased by over 25 percent in the first two months of the current fiscal year. The new statistics released by the Department of Labor and Employment Promotion shows that approximately 557 people left Nepal everyday in search of jobs overseas during the months of Shrawan (July/August) and Bhadra (August/September).
According to the department, 33,445 people left the country for foreign employment, up from 26,600 people during the same period last year. There are 13 most favorite destinations for Nepalese workers with 48 percent opting for Malaysia . Other favorite destinations include Gulf countries, Israel , South Korea , Kuwait , Hong Kong , the USA and Russia .
The number of people leaving the country rose by over 2000 during the month of Bhadra to 17,887 against 15,558 people in Shrawan, the first month of Nepali fiscal year.
The department’s report shows that a total of 16,507 workers left for Malaysia in the first two months of the current fiscal year compared to 12,196 during the same period last year, which means 275 workers are currently leaving for Malaysia for employment every day.
No wonder then that the country received Rs 97.53 billion as remittance amount from formal banking channels during the last fiscal year. This is the highest amount of remittance to have come through formal channels till date.
An international financial institution has estimated that, on average, only 50 percent of remittances are received through formal channels. However, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) estimates that around 60 percent of remittance amounts are received through formal channels.
As per its estimates, Nepal might have received Rs 140 billion remittance last year. In previous fiscal year, Nepal had received Rs 65.54 billion remittance through formal channels. Sending remittance through formal channels has picked up pace with the promotional campaigns by banks, and money transfer agencies.
Review Meeting On Trade Treaty
As both Nepal and India did not exchange any letter six months before the scheduled expiry of the bilateral Trade Treaty, the path for its automatic renewal has cleared.
However, the officials of the two countries would be meeting after a month to talk about procedural matters aimed at streamlining the treaty with regional understandings. The bilateral treaty is set to expire on March 5, 2007 .
“The review meeting is felt necessary to discuss about non-tariff barriers and streamlining them with regional agreements,” a government source said. The meeting will be held at joint secretary-level.
The treaty was first signed a decade ago. It provides duty free access to almost all Nepalese goods to Indian market except those in negative list. The treaty is of vital importance to Nepal as over 60 percent of Nepal ’s foreign trade is conducted with India .
The bilateral preferential treaty is in favor of Nepalese traders as it provides many facilities to them. After its signing in 1996, Nepal recorded a huge growth in its trade with India . However, the treaty was later amended in 2001.
