Kathmandu, November 4

Nepal is hosting the Fifth Senior Officials’ Meeting and Sixth Ministerial Consultation of the Colombo Process in Kathmandu from November 15 to 16.

The Colombo Process, established in 2003, is a regional consultative process on the management of overseas employment and contractual labour for countries of origins in Asia.

It is a forum to facilitate dialogue and cooperation on issues of common interest and concern relating to labour mobility. The Colombo Process has 12 member states and eight observer countries.

The upcoming event will bring together ministers and senior officials from the member states— Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. Of the 12 countries, eight have already confirmed their participation.

The event, being organised by the Government of Nepal under technical support of International Organisation of Migration, will also be attended by representatives from Abu Dhabi Dialogue, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and Association of Southeast Asian Nations as observers.

During the ministerial meeting, Nepal will present a country report including its work and achievements over the past year as the chair of the Colombo Process.

Nepal had succeeded Sri Lanka as chair in Geneva in March 2017.

The meeting will also see adoption of Kathmandu Declaration, according to Dipak Dhakal, under secretary at the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security and a member of the team overseeing the preparations.

The ministerial consultation meeting, which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli at Soaltee Hotel, will also see presentations by countries concerned on priorities and achievements of Thematic Area Working Groups.

Sri Lanka will present on ‘Skills and Qualification Recognition’; Bangladesh on ‘Fostering Ethical Recruitment’; Philippines on ‘Pre-Departure Orientation and Empowerment’; Pakistan on ‘Remittances’; and Thailand on ‘Labour Market Analysis’.

“The major agenda of the meeting is how to make the foreign employment sector well-managed and addressing the present issues,” said Dhakal.