By Ramesh Mathew

Dr Mishra ... enthused by the response in Qatar

Nepal would encourage its women to take up jobs in organised sectors in the region’s states, says the Himalayan nation’s ambassador to Qatar, Dr Suryanath Mishra.
Speaking to Gulf Times, the envoy said employment opportunities in the region, especially in Qatar, have not been hit by the global slowdown.
Even though the percentage of Nepalese women in Qatar’s job market is negligible compared to some other nationalities, their share is going up in some sectors, especially in the hospitality sector over the past year, believes Dr Mishra.
“We feel that opportunities for women are certainly growing in select sectors and we would encourage our women to explore opportunities in those areas,” he said.
The diplomat said the country’s job providers are showing growing interest in Nepalese, including women, as they found them to be very “honest and hardworking”.
“Even though the existing system in Nepal doesn’t allow our women to take up jobs at homes in the region, the government encourages them in a big way to hunt for jobs in organised sectors such as security guards, sales personnel, hospitality and airline industry,” said Dr Mishra.
Incidentally in the first three sectors, there has been reasonably good demand for Nepalese women in GCC states, in particular in Qatar, according to trade sources.
The ambassador said companies recruiting Nepalese women in the past few years have applied for Nepalese visas again. “This demonstrates the employers’ faith in the ability of Nepalese to do their job in an excellent manner,” said Dr Mishra.
The envoy said there is an increasing interest these days among the country’s residents, especially Western expatriates to undertake tours to his country.
“Nowadays, a number of them are making inquiries at the embassy about the visa procedures,” he said.
Thanking tour companies here for promoting visits to Qatar, the ambassador expressed the hope that the number of travellers to Nepal in coming years would continue to grow.
Qatar was, until a year ago, the largest employer of Nepalese nationals outside their homeland. Now, according to statistics available from Kathmandu, Saudi Arabia hosts the largest number of Nepalese expatriates.