Five countries, one request: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and the Kyrgyz Republic ask the WTO to help qualifications travel

A nurse trained in Dhaka, an engineer licensed in Lahore, an accountant qualified in Kathmandu — today, each often has to start almost from zero to work abroad, because countries rarely recognise one another's professional qualifications. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and the Kyrgyz Republic have jointly asked the World Trade Organization to change that: targeted technical assistance, written into the WTO's training plan, to help developing countries build the accreditation and licensing systems that mutual recognition agreements require. Such agreements are common between wealthy economies and rare for developing ones — which is precisely the gap the five countries named. If the systems align, a qualification earned at home could open doors abroad without years of repeat examinations.

SDG 8 · Decent work and economic growth — Mechanism: policy reform