Kathmandu, August 24
Twenty-five Nepali foreign employment companies listed under Malaysia’s Foreign Worker Centralized Management System (FWCMS) have agreed to withdraw their names from the system.
The agreement was reached during a discussion at the Ministry of Youth, Labour and Employment, according to Hari Bahadur Dangi, general secretary of the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies.
Malaysia had listed only 25 of around 1,200 licensed Nepali foreign employment companies in the FWCMS as “registered recruitment agencies” for recruiting Nepali workers.
The decision to include only 25 agencies had drawn opposition from foreign employment businesses, with the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies also suspending the membership of the listed companies and deciding to request government action against them.
Foreign employment agencies had argued that allowing only a limited number of companies to have direct access to Malaysian employers could create a syndicate and restrict competition in the recruitment of Nepali workers.
They said such an arrangement could leave access to employment opportunities in Malaysia concentrated among a small number of foreign employment companies.
Amid the controversy, the 25 companies listed in the FWCMS have now agreed to withdraw from the system themselves.
Dangi said the companies concluded that a system limiting recruitment opportunities to only them would not be in their long-term interest and agreed to leave the system collectively.
The 25 companies will also be required to submit a commitment to the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies.
The ministry had invited representatives of all 25 companies listed in the system for discussions.
During a separate discussion with Malaysia’s acting ambassador, Youth, Labour and Employment Minister Ramji Yadav said issues related to labour migration should be resolved through bilateral dialogue and agreement between the two countries.
