KUWAIT CITY: Gulf and Asian labour ministers agreed on Thursday on a series of initiatives aimed at boosting protection and improving conditions of employment for millions of foreign workers in the Gulf, officials said.

The deal followed two days of talks between ministers from the 12 Asian labour-sending countries and the energy-rich Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, which hosts at least 15 million workers, mostly Asian.

They welcomed a proposal by the International Labour Organisation to assist in “preventing abuse in the recruitment process, protecting workers’ rights, improving regulation and strengthening oversight of private recruitment,” in a final statement of the end of the meeting.

The measures include initiatives and programmes for wage protection, for speedier settlement of labour disputes, a skill development and testing programme and a pre-departure orientation initiative, the Emirati labour ministry undersecretary for policies and strategy, Omar al-Nuaimi, said. The governments in the latest round of the so-called Abu Dhabi Dialogue, launched in the Emirati capital in 2008, negotiated “in a positive and responsible way for the benefit of workers,” Nuaimi said.

“The issue of expatriate manpower cannot be effectively managed, and their protection and rights cannot be improved without a strong partnership between receiving and sending countries,” he said.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2014