Nepalnews.com Mercantile Communications Pvt. Ltd.

Foreign employment up by nearly 50 percent

The number of people leaving for foreign employment increased by nearly 50 percent in the first quarter of the current fiscal year as compared to the last year due to the political instability and unemployment of the country.

According to a report published by the Department of labor and employment promotion, around 39,139 people had left for 11 different labour destinations in the first three months of the current fiscal year compared to 26,761 of the same period of the last year.

The report further states that as in the previous period, around 44 percent of the total outgoing workers left for Malaysia. The people leaving for Malaysia have increased by 72 percent during the period.

17,321 people left for foreign employment in the review period up from 10,045 of the last fiscal year.

The report also shows that the number of people leaving for Qatar has increased by around 56 percent during the review period from 8,265 to 12,842. The Kathmandu Post quoted sources as saying that this is mainly due to the increment in the labour demand in Qatar, which is making preparations for upcoming Asian Games.

The report shows that the number of people leaving for Saudi Arabia also increased by around 14 percent during the same period as compared to the last year reaching 3,858 from 3,375.

Likewise, the number of people leaving for United Arab Emirates (UAE) increased to 4,466 this year up from 3,253 of the last year.

Among other destinations, 223 workers had left for Israel, 222 for Bahrain, 123 for Kuwait, 37 for Hong Kong, 21 for Afghanistan, 13 for Oman and 10 for Spain.

The report also shows that the number of women leaving for foreign employment had also increased by 134 percent during the period as compared to the last year.

According to the statistics of department, 239 women left the country for foreign employment this year as compared to 102 of last year.

According to experts, security situation of the country following the Maoist insurgency and growing unemployment are the main reasons for the increment in the people leaving for foreign employment.

The remittance received from the foreign employment is contributing significantly for the ailing economy of the country. nepalnews.com pb Oct 27 05