Nepal

Traffickers remain adaptable and profit-driven. Yet for the first time in years, the region’s enforcement community is not merely reacting – it is organising, training and collaborating at a scale designed to outpace the criminals.

On 27 March 2026, the first cabinet meeting after taking office approved a 100-point reform package that explicitly targets the abolition of party-affiliated trade unions in public administration.

Without urgent shifts, the ledger of human suffering will continue to grow alongside the tiger population.

Remittances already account for nearly 67 per cent of Nepal’s total foreign currency earnings. Tourism and exports from the Gulf add smaller but important flows. Last fiscal year, 20,504 tourists from Gulf countries visited Nepal, representing 1.8 per cent of total arrivals.

Hospitals are accused of admitting patients without medical necessity and inflating bills, while helicopter companies allegedly falsified flight records.

ILO’s Nepal country director Numan Özcan says that with evidence-based planning, increased investment, and inclusive social dialogue, the country can turn a potential setback into a catalyst for sustainable, job-rich development.

The report stresses the need for drastic improvements in the public procurement system. Recommendations include establishing clearer bid evaluation criteria, strictly screening abnormally low bids that often lead to abandoned contracts, and enhancing the government’s e-procurement system.

Structural weaknesses persist: low GDP per capita, exposure to external shocks and natural disasters, and governance metrics that lag behind ‘BB’-category peers.