Armenian Employers Open for Closer Cooperation with ILO on Enabling Environment for Sustainable Enterprises

On 16 – 18 February, two staff members of the ILO Decent Work Technical Support Team and Country Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia were on mission in Armenia. Vladimir Curovic, Senior Specialist in Employers’ Activities, and John Bliek, Senior Enterprise Specialist, went to Yerevan to participate in the National Conference on Enabling Environment for Sustainable Enterprises (EESE) organized by the Republican Union of Employers of Armenia, RUEA.

18 February 2016

Content also available in: русский
The Conference was a big success both in terms of the level of representation – it was attended and addressed by Vice Prime Minister of Armenia, Vice President of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Armenia and several members of parliament representing various political parties – and in terms of the quality of discussions that followed the opening ceremony, during which Vladimir Curovic and John Bliek also made remarks on behalf of the ILO. Altogether, taking part in the conference were some 165 delegates of government agencies, employers’ organizations, trade unions, expert and other Armenian communities and the media.

The opening session was followed by a presentation by ILO consultant Mirza Muleskovic, who commented on the methodology used by the authors of the National Assessment Report on Enabling Environment for Sustainable Enterprises, which was then presented to the Conference by President of RUAE Gagik Makaryan. The report was very well received by the participants.

Following the presentation of the EESE National Assessment Report, there were four consecutive high profile panels where the participants were able to exchange views on such issues as good governance/corruption, access to finance, informal economy and regulatory framework and education, training and life-long learning.

The insightful and professional exchange in the panels generated a keen interest and lively debate among the delegates. There was a unanimous understanding expressed at the closing session of the need for the participating stakeholders and partners to establish a national EESE committee acting as an advisory body to the prime minister, in which RUEA and employers will play a key role.

The conclusions and suggestions formulated by all the four panels will be reflected in the updated version of the National EESE Assessment Report, which will be finalized within weeks.

Both in the run-up to the Conference, and on the margins of the event Vladimir Curovic and John Bliek had meetings with RUEA board members, leaders of regional employers’ associations and other stakeholders in order to map out possible areas for a more active future cooperation.