The Secretary-General of the Union of Arab Chambers, Dr. Khaled Hanafy, participated in the work of the forty-seventh round of the Arab Labor Conference, hosted by Cairo, and organized by the Arab Labor Organization, and under the auspices of the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.
The UAC held the thirty-seventh meeting of the Permanent Committee for Labor Affairs in the Union on the evening prior to the opening of the Arab Labor Conference,
The agenda of the Arab Labor Conference, which will run until the twelfth of September, included a report on entrepreneurship and small projects and their role in sustainable development and empowerment, and a report on the activities and achievements of the Arab Labor Organization during 2019 and 2020, as well as a consideration of the decisions and recommendations of the Council Managing, following up on the implementation of the decisions of the previous Arab Labor Conference, and discussing financial, plan and budget issues. The conference will discuss the implementation of Arab labor agreements and recommendations, the impact of technological development on the work environment, and the requirements of a green economy to provide job opportunities.
Mohamed Mahmoud Ahmed Saafan, Minister of Manpower in Egypt, delivered a speech by the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, who emphasized that "the Arab world faces many challenges imposed by the current global system, and the events and developments it is going through that affect and are affected by the world of work, with their repercussions on the Arab countries, especially in the field of employment and reducing unemployment, with the existence of new work patterns that have resulted from recent changes and developments in the world of work.
President Al-Sisi pointed to the importance of preparing appropriate strategies to advance comprehensive Arab development, enhance and support economic cooperation, and reach new and advanced mechanisms to bring about comprehensive Arab regional integration and promote joint investments. He also called for “the importance of facilitating the movement of labor between Arab countries,” stressing "the need to take serious and quick steps and give priority to the national interest of the Arab nation, and to prevent and overcome any differences in a way that achieves common development goals."
For his part, the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, emphasized "the importance of completing the path of Arab economic integration to eliminate unemployment and make better use of Arab resources with Arab hands, as well as the importance of bridging the development gap between Arab countries," noting that "the Arab League is working hard to complete the status of the Greater Arab Free Trade Zone, and it is also working to finalize the development of many Arab agreements that would facilitate the movement of labor and capital within the Arab world, including the modernization of the Arab Investment Agreement and transport agreements between Arab countries.
He also called on the Arab Labor Organization and its partners from the three labor parties to "work on unifying and modernizing the labor legislations in line with the developments taking place, and in a way that contributes to the integration of Arab labor markets," noting that "the unified Arab economic report for the year 2020 issued by the League of Arab States provides preliminary indications for the losses of the crisis caused by the Corona pandemic, as employment and production numbers declined significantly, indicators of multidimensional poverty deteriorated, and budget deficits reached alarming levels.
Aboul Gheit also referred to the importance of Arab solidarity in facing the challenges posed by the Corona pandemic, and the negative effects of the pandemic on Arab economies, noting Qatar's support for the joint Arab action in order to achieve the desired economic integration.
Source (Union of Arab Chambers, Asharq Al-Awsat Newspaper, Edited)
