South Asia Forum of Employers networking meeting unfolds in Colombo

Friday, 1 April 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The South Asia Forum of Employers (SAFE) networking meeting was held in Colombo recently. The event was hosted by the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC) and was sponsored by the International Training Centre of International Labor Organization (ILO) and the Dutch Employers’ Corporation Programme (DECP).

The two-day meeting which brought together the representatives of the Employers Organizations (EOs) of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka, sought to strengthen the network and share best practices affecting the entire region.

The objectives of this high end meeting were to strengthen South Asian National Employers’ Organizations’ access to information on current trends and developments internationally and in the sub region on subjects of importance and to enable national EOs to improve analysis of business needs, the orientation and contents of lobbying with policy makers, provision of services to members and the overall effective functioning of the employers’ organisations

The delegations focused on several issues like including advocacy and lobbying, vocational training and the role of regional ambassadors. The introductory statements at this fifth SAFE meeting were made by Rogier Chorus of DECP, Netherlands, Arnout De Koster of ITC/ILO and Ravi Peiris of ILO, South Asia. They stressed the importance of a comprehensive and continuing exchange of information within the SAFE. The participating countries highlighted the role of their respective EOs in advocacy and promoting the best business practices in their presentations.

Representing the EFC, Director Kanishka Weerasinghe asserted that migration and reforming the labour legislation are given priority in the EFCs agenda and that it also strives to champion productivity, international competitiveness and skills training. He also maintained that the EFC aspires to link wage increases to higher productivity.

Ravi Peiris, representing the ILO, South Asia, in his presentation, proposed to nominate ‘regional ambassadors’ such as HR directors of firms in the regions who will promote the EOs through the dissemination of information on their activities, and by expanding its membership.

The participants decided on the agenda for next year’s program which will bring under the spotlight vocational skills and competence, contract labour and migration, labour law for the 21st century, wages and productivity and empowerment of women. It was decided that the next SAFE meeting would be hosted by Nepal in Kathmandu.