Tomoko Nishimoto, assistant director-general and regional director for Asia and the Pacific of International Labour Organisation (ILO), concluded her five-day visit to Kathmandu with a sense of praise and a great optimism for Nepal and its people on Friday.

During her visit, Nishimoto held meetings with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamal Thapa, Saarc Secretary General Arjun Bahadur Thapa, Minister for Labour and Employment Deepak Bohara, Vice-Chairperson of National Planning Commission, Yuba Raj Khatiwada, representatives of employers’ and workers’ organisations and the development partners.

Nishimoto’s visit was focused on discussions pertaining to trafficking of workers in the foreign labour migration process, climate change, social protection, labour law, job creation, formalisation of informal economy, Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 development agenda.

In the meeting with PM Oli, Nishimoto extended her best wishes on the promulgation of new constitution. They also talked about the development efforts on the realisation of labour rights.

Issues related to the trafficking of workers were a focus of her meeting with Labour Minister Bohara. In the meeting, Nishimoto apprised the minister of fair recruitment guidelines being prepared by the ILO, which, she said, will be a useful tool to deal with the challenges faced by labours.

The ILO assistant director general also attended a roundtable meeting with senior officials from workers’ and employers’ organisations who used the occasion to brief her on the opportunities and constraints affecting the creation of decent jobs in Nepal.