Doha: A high-level forum entitled ‘Business and Migration: Strengthening dialogue between the private sector and governments’ highlighted the role of the business sector in labour reform and migration management.
The high-level forum was hosted by the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs and the Qatar Chamber in cooperation with the International Organization of Employers (IOE), and the International Labor Organization (ILO) Project Office for the State of Qatar.
The one-day conference is part of the Global Forum on Migration and Development’s mechanism of action. The outcome of the forum will be presented as part of the business contribution to the 2019 Global Forum on Migration and Development annual Summit to be held in Ecuador in November 2019.
In his opening speech, Second Vice-Chairman of Qatar Chamber, Rashid Hamad Al Athba, stressed that the growth witnessed by Qatar in all economic and commercial fields requires an increasing number of expatriate workers who participate in projects implemented by the State and work in various sectors of the State.
He stressed that Qatar has made a tremendous leap in terms of labour rights and the safeguarding of their full rights, adding it has implemented several ambitious labour market reform measures that are undoubtedly the first-of-its-kind in the region and has adopted a number of legislation and reforms that reflect its commitment to providing a safe and secure working environment.
For his part, Employer Representative, Former Board Member of QCCI, Nasser Al Meer, said that the Qatari business community and Qatari companies have welcomed the reforms adopted by Qatar in the field of employment, and dealt with them positively, because these reforms are beneficial to their business in the first place and the reputation of the State of Qatar in general.
He noted the great interest of Qatar Chamber in these procedures, pointing to the commitment of companies to apply the requirements of occupational safety and health within the workplace and in workers’ dorms and to implement the requirements of the Qatari Labor Law towards providing a healthy and professional work environment.
The Head of Stakeholder Engagement at International Organization of Employers (IOE), Stephanie Winet, said that the IOE was working to implement mechanisms to ensure that migrant workers were treated in a responsible manner and that the law was well applied for both workers and employers, pointing out that this is taken into account both at the level of companies or governments, indicating that the State of Qatar has made great strides in this regard.
