Saudi Arabia is ready to immediately sign two agreements regarding the skills certification program for general and skilled workers, keeping the contract of domestic workers in place. Previously, Saudi Arabia had been maintaining a position that an agreement should be made to take domestic workers first. Nepal has already agreed on the draft of the general labor agreement with Saudi Arabia.

Such an agreement was reached between the Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Security, Sharatsingh Bhandari, and Saudi Arabia's Deputy Minister of International Affairs, Tariq Al Hamad, in a bilateral meeting held in Geneva on Monday. It remains to be signed," Labor Minister Bhandari told Ikantipur, "Saudi took the position that the general agreement could be signed only after the agreement on domestic workers. The current meeting has decided to proceed with the agreement that has been agreed and to do more homework on the draft of the agreement on domestic workers.

Labor Minister Bhandari said that he informed the Saudi side that there is a directive of Nepal's parliamentary committee that an agreement on domestic workers should be made only after a labor agreement has been reached between the two countries. Information was also given that a pilot project is required for this.

The Geneva meeting has opened the way for the signing of a common labor agreement and a skills certification program. It has been a decade since Nepal advanced the labor agreement with Saudi Arabia. According to him, Nepal has agreed to the draft of the general agreement sent by Saudi Arabia and has formally sent it to the Saudi government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In that draft, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO) standards, the issues of workers' rights, occupational health protection, change of employers, fair recruitment of workers are included.

Saudi has also finalized the issue of labor agreement with Nepal to take another skilled manpower. Saudi Arabia is about to enter into an agreement with the source country regarding 'technical workers' saying that it needs skilled manpower. He has made a similar agreement with India and the Philippines. Labor Minister Bhandari informed that Nepal has established a national training and training institute to produce skilled workers. The process of establishing a polytechnic school in Mahottari is progressing with the grant sent from Saudi Arabia for skill development.

Labor Minister Bhandari said that Nepal is ready to cooperate in producing skilled manpower needed in specific sectors of Saudi Arabia's labor market. We are expecting more financial support from Saudi Arabia for professional and technical training in Nepal. Help us in developing the skills of Nepali workers who go to Saudi Arabia from training institutions,' he said, 'We will give priority to the skill development of workers who go to major sectors such as construction, healthcare, hospitality, medical care, multi-technical and domestic work.'  In the

meeting, Saudi Deputy Minister Hamad informed that the Saudi labor market is improving significantly. "Saudi Arabia is committed to implementing the contract between the workers and the employers." If the workers are not getting paid according to the contract or if they have to make Akama (residential ID card), we are making a mechanism to immediately file a complaint through digital means . We are implementing it effectively," he said. Hamad also informed that there is a provision to change the employer if the Saudis do not receive their salary for three months.

Minister of Labor Bhandari informed that the government of Nepal is in the process of making standards for domestic labor recruitment and told the Saudi side, 'Nepal will respond to the draft from Saudi as soon as the standards are made.' Nepal is still at the stage of defining the criteria for the contract regarding the recruitment of domestic workers. Strengthening the capacity of the diplomatic missions, access to justice for domestic workers and the development of a mechanism that can intervene in time has been prioritized .

2. Emphasis is placed on the zero-cost recruitment policy of labour. Strict regulation and supervision of supply and manpower companies is necessary to ensure compliance with standards to make labor decent .

3. Emphasis is placed on safe, humane and dignified work and quality housing. Minimum wages, security, occupational health, life insurance, easy access to health care and safety standards should be clear.