Nepali migrant workers going to Saudi Arabia will benefit from the recent move by  Saudi authorities where they would be checked for their skills upon their arrival in the kingdom, experts said.  According to a 2020 report on labor migration by the Nepal government, around 400,000 Nepalis are in Saudi Arabia. 

Based on the skill certification issued by the Saudi authorities, workers may demand better wages in the country. Saudi Arabia has recently introduced measures to test migrants for skills upon their arrival in the gulf country. 

“Saudi Arabia enforcing such rules will make the Nepal government think of providing skills to Nepali migrants. We might have sent unskilled workers so far,” Swarna Kumar Jha, a labour migration expert in Nepal, was quoted as saying by the Kathmandu Post.  

He added, “But if the destination countries like Saudi Arabia will demand skilled workers, then Nepal will be compelled to also produce and send skill workers.”

Most of our workers heading for Saudi Arabia are unskilled, said Jha. Earlier, there was no incentive to send skilled workers there, he said, adding things could change now. 
 
The Saudi government will implement the policy from July this year; the aim is to improve the service they provide in the country and reduce the number of those unqualified workers.