The Nepal government has started working on a draft labour agreement after Japan announced it would hire thousands of workers from various countries, including Nepal.

The Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security has started drafting a memorandum of understanding (MoU), Secretary at the ministry Mahesh Prasad Dahal told the Post.

Japan on Tuesday approved a new labour policy, opening up its labour market to the deserving Nepali people under the blue-collar visas.

Over the first five years, about 345,000 foreign workers will be allowed to work across 14 industrial sectors that include nursing care, janitorial work, manufacturing, the hotel industry, agriculture and fishing, as well as food processing and food services, the Japanese media have reported.

The flow of workers will come from China, Indonesia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.

The two countries are likely to formally discuss the Nepali workers’ migration during Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono’s visit here. The Japanese minister is arriving in Kathmandu on January 9 for a two-day official visit. Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali had invited Kano to Nepal during his trip to Tokyo last month.

“Keeping Japanese Foreign Minister’s visit on mind, we have begun coming up with a draft MoU, which we can share during his trip,” Dahal said.

The labour ministry officials also hoped that the Japanese side would also send a draft MoU prepared by them or come up with the document during the official trip.

Nepal and Japan have long been discussing over sending Nepali workers to Japan through the government to government model.

Minister for labour, Employment and Social Security Gokarna Bista and Japanese Ambassador to Nepal Masamichi Saigo have held a series of meeting discussing the prospect of opening jobs for Nepali migrant workers in Japan. 

A government official said The two governments could reach a common understanding on the proposed deal after discussing the draft deals, according to Dahal. “Both governments also need to discuss the possible modality of labour migration before signing any formal agreement,” he added.