Saturday 20 / April / 2024
Muscat: The Government of Nepal has adopted the policy of Foreign Employment for Nepali nationals. The Sultanate has become one of the most preferred destinations for employment opportunities for Nepali workers. The number of Nepali people coming to Oman has been increasing year by year.
Similarly, the Nepal Embassy is working ahead in further expanding employment opportunities for Nepali nationals in Oman as the Sultanate provides favourable working and living conditions to expatriates, including Nepalis. Currently, there are 17,621 Nepalis residing in Oman.
“We have nearly 20,000 Nepalis in Oman, most of whom are blue-collar workers. I can see a lot of opportunities for Nepalis here, as the Sultanate provides favourable working and living conditions for expatriates. Also, Nepalis are being welcomed by most of the companies and people in Oman because of their dedication to work, loyalty, sincerity and integrity. The prospect of employment in Oman is ever growing following the massive construction of infrastructure, tourism and real estate and their modernisation in Oman,” said Sarmila Parujuli, Ambassador of Nepal to Oman.
In order to facilitate employment opportunities, the Embassy is working rigorously to simplify the recruitment processes and procedures. Earlier, a prospective employer had to go through the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ministry of Manpower and the Ministry of External Affairs to get the recruitment process started.
Now, an employer can approach any one of these governmental bodies, which results in saving time and an ease in the processes.
“We have reformed the policies to make the recruitment process easier. We have been working on that. We are interested in promoting our skilled and professionals, semi-skilled and blue-collar workers. Some of the hospitals and hotels are keen to hire more Nepalis,” she said.
A Nepali can be recruited individually if his or her family members who are in Oman recommend that he/she visits Oman, or if he/she has already worked here or if he/she gets a job through an online application or if he/she is selected for any government/official job in Oman, and the another way is bulk/group recruitment through the manpower agencies of Nepal, which are registered and licenced from the government of Nepal. For recruitment through manpower agencies, five sets of documents are required—demand letter, employment contract, power of attorney, guarantee letter, and interparty agreement.
Since the Sultanate is on a massive Omanisation drive and the six-month visa ban for expatriates is still active, the Ambassador said that she is planning to coordinate with the Labour Ministry of both the countries in bringing workers who don’t fall under the category of banned sectors.
“We have good nurses and doctors in our country. We spoke to a few hospitals here, and they were keen to bring Nepalis in. We would like to convey to those who are interested in bringing manpower from Nepal, that the Embassy is always here to help them.”
According to Parajuli, having more Nepalis in Oman will prove to be a win-win-win situation for both nations and the workers.
“Since we are a labour sending country, it gives us good job opportunities and assurance to know that our people are working in a peaceful and peace-loving country. Oman has a great environment. We think it will be great for our workers to come here. We are concerned for the safety, security and wellbeing of our fellow nationals and Oman provides such a great environment for our Nepalis,” she said. Besides, remittances account for around 30 per cent of Nepal’s GDP.
“Remittance is very important for our country’s economy. We are trying to monitor it and manage the labour market well. Foreign employment is one of the pillars of economic diplomacy of Nepal that is helping to achieve the Motto of the GoN, “Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepalis”.
Since Parajuli took over as the first Nepal ambassador to Oman a little over a year ago, she has attempted to strengthen the relations between the Sultanate and Nepal. One major milestone was achieved when the then Nepali PM visited Oman last year.
“We have been working towards cooperation across labour, tourism, museums, visa waivers for diplomats and officials. Various Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) are on the way. We signed an MoU on bilateral consultation mechanism last year September when the Prime Minister of Nepal visited Oman officially.”
