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Article

13 Jul 2022

Author:
Froilan T. Malit, Jr. & Anuj Tiwari, Diplomat

Gulf: Lack of trust in expertise of Nepali institutions training migrant workers going abroad affect Nepali workers' job prospects

Mike Bauder, Shutterstock (purchased)

"Small State, Big Agenda? Nepal in the Gulf Labor Migration Market" 09 Jul 2022

While Nepal is viewed as a small but increasingly competitive Asian sending state with a “big agenda” for Gulf labor market dominance, Nepali workers in the Gulf remain a small but expanding migrant population due to regular and irregular routes facilitated by migration brokers. In Qatar, thousands of Nepali migrant workers helped build 2022 World Cup infrastructure.

...Nepal struggles to compete with traditional “big states” and institutionally places its nationals in the Gulf, unlike larger states. Gulf-based companies lack confidence in the industry training provided to prospective Nepali migrant workers, especially in construction. Raaj Snathe, managing director of Snathe Group, a leading training and upskilling provider in the Asia-Gulf migration corridor, acknowledged that “training centers in [labor-sending countries like Nepal] lack investment, are poorly managed, and lack the infrastructure, trainers, and expertise to deliver training to standards that lead to valued certification.” Gulf-based firms view Nepali workers as having “weak skill and training levels” and significant language barriers (i.e. Arabic and English). These conditions often affect not only the contractual terms and agreements of migrants, but also the Gulf-based company’s future recruitment of migrants.