Nepal and Romania have signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the fields of labour and social protection.

Sharat Singh Bhandari, minister for labour, employment and social security, and Simona Bucura-Oprescu, minister for labour and social solidarity of Romania, signed the MoU at the Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity of Romania.

The signing of the MoU was followed by a bilateral meeting between the high-level delegations, the Nepali Embassy in Berlin said in a statement on Friday. The Embassy of Nepal in Berlin is accredited to Romania whereas the Embassy of Romania in New Delhi is accredited to Nepal.

The two ministers shared views, primarily, on the agenda of Nepal-Romania bilateral relations, labour migration, Nepal’s commitment to legal migration, workers’ welfare, dignity, security, and vocational training.

During the meeting, they also expressed happiness over the growing relations between the two countries in recent years and stated that the signing of the MoU would be the first step in the roadmap towards fair, ethical, and legal migration of Nepali workers to Romania.

Minister Bhandari also expressed his willingness to collaborate with the Romanian government in all sectors of mutual benefits, according to the statement. He further stated that Nepal is aware of gender friendly recruitment approaches and is ready to cooperate on this matter.

The Romanian ministers assured the Nepali side that the Nepali workers working legally in Romania are entitled to equal rights as that of Romanian citizens.

The Romanian side informed the Nepali delegation regarding the need for a Romanian labour market, especially in the fields of construction, services, hospitality and agriculture, reads the statement.

As of now, 15,590 Nepali workers are employed in Romania which is the second largest among the foreign citizens from non-EU countries in Romania.