Subregional seminar for employers’ organizations in the Caucasian countries.
The ILO Moscow Office and the Georgian Employers’ Association jointly organized a subregional seminar for the employers’ representatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, which took place on November 13-14 2002 in Tbilisi.
The opening session of the seminar was attended by Mr. Amiran Gamkrelidze, Minister of Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia, Mr. Temur Basilia, Assistant to the President of Georgia on Economic reforms, Mr. Dimitri Gugichashvili, Representative of the State Chancellery of Georgia, Mr. Revaz Sakhvarelidze, Head of the Labour and Employment Policy Department of the Ministry, Mr. Irakli Petriashvili, Deputy Chairman of Trade Union Amalgamation, as well as by the representatives of the Georgian state inspection on technical supervision, American Chamber of Commerce, International Chamber of Commerce, Georgian Investment Centre, USAID Office in Georgia, GTZ and others.
In his welcoming speech the Minister of Labour outlined the most important issues in the labour and social policy sphere in Georgia. He underlined, that Georgia is on the way to establishing a totally new legislative framework, for example the new Labour Code and draft law on Labour Migration. New schemes of the state employment programmes are being created – the process to achieve full employment will take considerable time for such a developing country as Georgia.
The delegations of employers’ organizations from the other Caucasian countries – Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen (Employers) of Armenia (UMBA) and Azerbaijan Entrepreneurs (Employers) Confederation (AEC) – delivered their presentations giving the viewpoint of existing problems of the organized employers of the South Caucasus, their solutions as well as development perspectives of the respective organizations.
The General Secretary of the AEC (www.ask.org.az) Mr. Alipasha Gaibaliev gave a detailed outline of the development of his organization, ongoing projects and future perspectives including cooperation with the international community. The President of UMBA (www.umba.am) Mr. Arsen Kazaryan underlined the fact that experience gained from the international community of employers is essential. The countries had different starting points including the political and economic situations of the past, thus Caucasian employers should look for their own unique ways of development. Mr. Elguja Meladze, the President of Georgian Employers’ Association sees the perspective of further development of his organization in close cooperation with the international organizations including the UN system agencies as well as with organized employers from the other CIS countries.
During the closing session of the seminar Georgian Employers’ Association and Azerbaijan Entrepreneurs (Employers) Confederation signed a Programme of Cooperation.
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In his welcoming speech the Minister of Labour outlined the most important issues in the labour and social policy sphere in Georgia. He underlined, that Georgia is on the way to establishing a totally new legislative framework, for example the new Labour Code and draft law on Labour Migration. New schemes of the state employment programmes are being created – the process to achieve full employment will take considerable time for such a developing country as Georgia.
The delegations of employers’ organizations from the other Caucasian countries – Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen (Employers) of Armenia (UMBA) and Azerbaijan Entrepreneurs (Employers) Confederation (AEC) – delivered their presentations giving the viewpoint of existing problems of the organized employers of the South Caucasus, their solutions as well as development perspectives of the respective organizations.
The General Secretary of the AEC (www.ask.org.az) Mr. Alipasha Gaibaliev gave a detailed outline of the development of his organization, ongoing projects and future perspectives including cooperation with the international community. The President of UMBA (www.umba.am) Mr. Arsen Kazaryan underlined the fact that experience gained from the international community of employers is essential. The countries had different starting points including the political and economic situations of the past, thus Caucasian employers should look for their own unique ways of development. Mr. Elguja Meladze, the President of Georgian Employers’ Association sees the perspective of further development of his organization in close cooperation with the international organizations including the UN system agencies as well as with organized employers from the other CIS countries.
During the closing session of the seminar Georgian Employers’ Association and Azerbaijan Entrepreneurs (Employers) Confederation signed a Programme of Cooperation.