KATHMANDU: Nepal government has inked a labor deal with the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The pact was signed on the sidelines of the ILO Centenary Conference in Geneva, Switzerland on Friday.

The agreement was signed by Minister for Labor, Employment and Social Security Gokarna Bista and UAE Minister for Human Resources & Emiratisation Nasser bin Thani Al Hamli.

The labor pact has incorporated the issue of adopting a transparent, fair and ethical system to hire Nepali migrant workers, according to Joint Secretary at Minister for Labor, Employment and Social Security Dr. Ram Prasad Ghimire.

“An agreement has been reached on an employer bearing all cost of a worker from the selection process to his/her travel to the destination country. The worker will not need to bear any cost in the whole process,” he said.

He was of the opinion that both the countries have agreed to curtail inappropriate admissions, forced labor and human trafficking among others.

A meeting of the technical committee of both the countries held on April 24-25 in Kathmandu had finalized the labor pact.

Earlier, Nepal had signed a similar labor pact with Mauritius on the sidelines of the ILO Centenary Conference in Geneva.