Ramesh Shrestha

South Korea on Wednesday decided to hire 15,000 Nepali workers under the EPS which is more than double the quota agreed between the two countries last year

For the second time in a month, South Korea—a lucrative job destination for Nepali youth—decided to increase the job quota for Nepal.

The country on Wednesday decided to hire 15,000 Nepali workers under the Employment Permit System (EPS) which is more than double the quota agreed between the two countries last year. Under the EPS, Korea had agreed to provide jobs to 7,100 Nepalis in 2012. On August 4, it increased the quota to 10,000.

Officials at the Ministry of Labour and Transport Management said the quota for Nepal had been increased based on the better work performance of Nepalis already working under the EPS provision.

“Effective labour diplomacy, good track record of Nepali workers and best operation of the Korean Language Test in the past month are behind the Korean decision to take in more workers,” the under-secretary and assistant spokesperson of the ministry, Krishna Hari Pushkar Karna, said. He added that they have asked South Korea to further increase the quota to over 10,000 for the next lot. The country was positive on this, Karna said.

To speed up work to send workers of the new lot, the ministry is planning to invite applications for Korean Language Test within the next one month and set up form collection centres in different parts of the country. It has also decided to publish on August 23 the results of the language test held last month.

Earlier, the ministry had planned to publish the results on August 12. However, it was unable to to do so due to Korea’s plans to increase the quota.

Korea had started hiring Nepali workers under the EPS provision since 2008 after an agreement on 2007 to supply workers. Till date, according to officials at the ministry, over 9,000 workers have left the country for jobs in South Korea under the EPS.

According to the Department of Foreign Employment, 3,703 individuals left the country for Korea in the last fiscal year.

After the invitation for the language test in a bid to send 7,100 workers last May, over 57,000 Nepali youth had applied for the same, while over 50,000 had taken the exam conducted on July 22-23.

EPS jobs have attracted Nepali youth as the country assures good salary and perks as compared to other labour destinations. Nepali workers in Korea earn an average of Rs 70,000 a month, which is much higher that what a worker earns in other labour destinations. Moreover, based on the performance, Korean firms can also extend the term of the workers from the basic three years to five years.

Korea has already recognised Nepal as the best labour supplying country for its shortest processing period and good performance. Last year, it rewarded Nepal as the “best sending country” under the EPS. “Since we have been able to impress Korea, I am hopeful that it will send a bigger quota for Nepal for the next lot too,” Karna said.

Published on: 18 August 2011 | The Kathmandu Post