JAKARTA - A Saudi-backed skills certification programme for Nepali workers was suspended in Kathmandu on June 17 after foreign employment recruiters protested outside a testing centre in Basundhara, The Kathmandu Post reported.

Industrial Training Institute Nepal Pvt Ltd, which was set to operate the Skills Verification Programme centre, posted a notice announcing the suspension. The Saudi Embassy in Kathmandu had not issued an official statement confirming the decision at the time of publication.

The centre had been scheduled to open on June 17 and begin skills assessments for Nepali workers in general occupations. More than 200 recruitment agency representatives joined the protest, and Saudi diplomatic officials did not attend the planned inauguration.

Under the proposed system, Nepali workers would have had to pay about Rs15,000 for certification, including US$50 for a skills test and US$50 for a Recognition of Prior Learning assessment. Saudi authorities had said workers without valid skills certification would not be issued work visas.

The requirement was expected to apply first to five worker categories, including loading and unloading labourers, porters, handcart operators and construction-related jobs. The specific construction occupations covered by the rule had not been clearly defined.

“If this provision is implemented, Nepali workers travelling to Saudi Arabia will be forced to pay extra fees,” Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies president Dik Bahadur Khatri told the Post. “The certification process is likely to require additional time and create unnecessary procedural complications and financial burdens during recruitment.”

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development launched its Professional Verification programme in 2021. The ministry said the programme was designed to verify that skilled workers have the qualifications and skills required for the jobs they were recruited to perform.

The Saudi programme has two tracks: testing workers in their home countries before arrival and testing existing workers inside Saudi Arabia. HRSD said work visas for targeted jobs would be linked to passing the examination in the worker’s country under a gradual rollout plan.

The dispute follows a Nepal-Saudi labour recruitment agreement signed on January 25. Saudi Arabia’s labour ministry said the agreement aimed to regulate procedures for Nepali workers in the kingdom, ensure ethical and effective recruitment, and protect the rights of workers and employers.